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A  UTHOR: 


SISSON,  EDWARD 
OCTAVIUS 


TITLE: 


ESSENTIALS  OF 
CHARACTER  ... 

PLA  CE: 

NEW  YORK 

DA  TE: 

1910 


COIJJMIHA  UNIVnrvSITY  LIURAI-IIHS 
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:-4  iiih'  of  I  1h'  Hi  Hi  of 
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1.  Cbaiacter.    2.  Moral  education.        i.  Title. 


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THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  CHARACTER 


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THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
ATLANTA  •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


THE 


'•■  liV 


ESSENTIALS  OF  CHARACTER 


A   PRACTICAL   STUDY 


OF 


THE  AIM   OF  MORAL   EDUCATION 


BY 
EDWARD    O.    SISSON,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   EDUCATION,   THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WASHINGTON 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1910 

A//  rights  reserved 


\  > 


\  * 


¥n-i/ 


Copyright,  1910, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  November,  1910. 


no 


Nortoootr  iPretss 

J.  B.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


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UXORI  CARISSIMAE  FILIOLAEQUE 


PREFACE 


Earnest  men  and  women  everywhere  are  deeply  con- 
cerned in  the  development  of  character  in  the  young,  and 
many  of  them,  especially  parents  and  teachers,  are  actively 
engaged  in  moral  training.  This  book  has  been  written 
in  the  belief  that  a  clear  comprehension  of  what  really 
makes  up  human  character  would  be  one  of  the  first  and 
best  aids  to  the  actual  worker.  The  whole  plan  and  style 
of  the  work,  including  the  selection  of  material,  —  and 
the  omission  of  many  things,  —  have  been  determined 
by  this  practical  aim.  This  statement  is  not  meant  as 
an  excuse  for  inaccuracy  or  fallacies,  which  I  have  en- 
deavored scrupulously  to  avoid. 

The  ruHng  idea  in  my  own  mind  throughout,  and  I  hope 
in  the  book,  is  what  may  be  caUed  the  dynamic  and  or- 
ganic nature  of  character :  that  character  springs  from 
native  impulses  and  tendencies  in  the  child,  which  are 
full  of  power,  of  push  and  thrust,  and  make  themselves 
felt ;  out  of  these  original  tendencies,  by  organization  and 
coordination,  and  by  enlightenment,  character  arises, 
through  gradual  and  often  imperceptible  processes. 
Moral  education,  then,  must  always  strive  to  make  con- 
nection with  these  sources  of  power  by  directing  the  im- 
pulses of  nature  into  the  service  of  human  ideals. 


vu 


VIU 


PREFACE 


On  the  other  hand,  I  have  tried  to  avoid  the  error  of 
belittling  the  intellectual  element  in  character:  mere 
knowledge  is  doubtless  impotent  enough  for  moral  ends, 
but  ideas  united  with  emotional  warmth  and  volitional 
power  become  ideals  that  dominate  hfe,  and  the  intel- 
lectual content  is  as  essential  to  the  ideal  as  the  emo- 
tional warmth,  for  the  ideal  must  contain  the  particular 
knowledge  fitted  to  stir  the  heart  and  guide  the  conduct  in 
the  right  direction. 

Moral  education  is  generally  recognized  to  be  the  most 
important  of  all  educational  questions,  as  well  as  the  most 
complex  and  difficult.  The  writer  earnestly  hopes  that 
this  little  book  may  prove  a  modest  help  in  the  practical 
solution  of  the  problem.  It  need  hardly  be  added  that 
criticism  and  suggestion  will  be  received  with  sincere 
gratitude. 

January,  igio. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface        ...#..••.,       v 
Introduction i 

CHAPTER  I 
Native  Tendencies 5 

Bodily  activity.  Sense-hunger  and  curiosity.  Sug- 
gestibility. Tastes  and  appreciation.  Self-assertion. 
Love.  Joy.  Fear.  The  growing-up  impulse.  Love  of 
approbation. 

CHAPTER  n  ' 

The  Treatment  of  Native  Tendencies  .        .        .        -34 


CHAPTER  III 
Disposition ,        .44 

Cheerfulness.     Kindness.     Disposition  and  habit. 

CHAPTER  IV 
Habits 60 

The  formation  of  habits.  Obedience.  Industry. 
Thoughtfulness.     Truthfulness.    Bad  habits. 

CHAPTER   V 

Tastes 94 

Wholesome  and  inexpensive  tastes.  Food.  Bodily 
activity.  Love  of  beauty.  Good  reading.  Dangers  in 
.aesthetic  education. 

ix 


'"»■■;*» 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   VI 

PACB 

The  Personal  Ideal 113 

The  bodily  ideal.  The  intellectual  ideal.  The  ideal  of 
honor.  The  workman's  pride.  Dangers  of  the  personal 
ideal.     Modesty. 

CHAPTER   VII 
Conscience 124 

CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Social  Ideal 132 

Basic  truths  of  human  life.  Social  intelligence.  Love 
of  humankind.     Courtesy. 

CHAPTER   IX 

Strength  of  Character  153 

Sources  of  strength.     Virtues  of  strength. 

CHAPTER   X 

Religion 170 

Religion  of  the  essence  of  character.  Religious  ele- 
ments.    The  virtues  of  religion. 

CHAPTER   XI 

Notes  on  the  Cultivation  of  Character       .        .        .182 
The  force  of  contagion.     The  parents'  power.     Physical 
health.     The  school.     Self-education. 

Suggested  Readings 203 

Index 211 


I 


THE  ESSENTIALS   OF  CHARACTER 


• '    ''..I  I  / 


THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  CHARACTER 


A  PRACTICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  AIM  OF 
MORAL  EDUCATION 

INTRODUCTION 

Good  is  good  and  bad  is  bad,  and  nowhere  is  the  differ- 
ence between  good  and  bad  so  wide  and  so  fateful  as  in 
human  character.  For  character  makes  destiny  in  the 
individual  and  in  the  race.  As  a  child  grows  into  youth 
and  maturity,  all  well-disposed  persons  are  interested  in 
how  he  will  'turn  out' ;  and  the  phrase  reveals  two  sali- 
ent facts  about  the  prevalent  thought  concerning  the 
genesis  of  character  :  first,  a  certain  vagueness  as  to  just 
what  is  good  and  bad  in  it;  and  second,  the  feeHng  that 
whether  it  proves  to  be  good  or  bad  is  much  a  matter  of 
chance.  Now  a  believer  in  education  must  needs  deny 
the  power  of  luck,  and  must  pin  his  faith  to  the  proposi- 
tion that  character  develops,  Hke  all  other  growing  things, 
in  accordance  with  inviolable  laws  :  and  that  if  we  could 
know  these  laws,  and  act  always  in  accordance  with  them, 
we  should  be  able,  —  not  to  make  what  we  please  out  of 
any  child,  —  but  to  make  of  every  child  the  best  that  he 
is  capable  of  becoming.  Even  after  we  admit  that  de- 
velopment is  governed  by  law,  we  still  must  see  that  in  the 


'Jt 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


\\\^ 


,  case  pf  a  human  being  the  laws  are  infinitely  complex  and 
as  yet  but  little  understood,  and  that  both  the  human  soul 
itself  and  the  world  that  forms  its  environment  are  mani- 
fold and  intricate  almost  beyond  our  conception.  Even 
so,  we  dare  not  yield  to  despair,  but  must  resolutely  set 
ourselves  to  learn  all  we  can  in  whatsoever  way  about 
the  child  and  the  laws  of  its  development,  and  to  turn 
this  knowledge  to  good  use  in  the  cultivation  of  the  best 
elements  that  spring  in  his  nature. 

Human  beings  differ  from  each  other  indefinitely,  and 
the  variations  run  back  in  many  cases  to  childhood,  and 
probably  have  their  roots  largely  in  original  endowment. 
No  training  that  ignores  these  individual  differences 
between  children  will  be  very  successful.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  are  not  a  few  qualities  that  we  expect  in 
every  normal  human  being,  and  the  importance  of  these 
things  is  immense :  the  very  fact  that  we  require  them  of 
all  shows  their  pecuhar  value :  and  the  fact  that  all  must 
have  them,  and  not  merely  a  few  chosen  ones,  multiplies 
their  significance  in  our  common  life.  So  much  has  been 
said  in  recent  years,  especially  since  Rousseau,  about  the 
differences  between  individuals,  that  there  has  been 
danger  of  our  losing  sight  of  the  truth  that  common  hu- 
manity and  the  qualities  and  character  that  we  can  all 
attain  are  more  important  than  any  peculiar  gifts  that 
are  bestowed  only  upon  the  chosen  few.  Every  child  has 
in  him  the  springs  and  impulses  of  honor,  of  truthfulness, 
of  love,  and  of  all  needed  virtues :  it  is  far  more  impor- 
tant to  recognize  and  bring  to  perfection  these  universals 


INTRODUCTION 


than  it  is  to  discover  and  cultivate  the  occasional  talent 
for  music  or  art  or  athletic  prowess  or  oratory,  —  valuable 
as  these  are.  Now  the  most  important  of  these  universals 
of  human  nature  have  been  summed  up  in  common 
thought  and  parlance  in  the  word  character  ;  for  character 
means  the  total  of  the  qualities  that  make  a  real  man  or 
woman :  a  person  without  character  is  so  much  less  than 
man:  and  a  man  of  character  is  a  man  in  the  fullest 
sense.  A  clear  and  definite  knowledge  of  the  most  im- 
portant at  least  of  the  qualities  that  make  up  character 
is  necessary  to  the  educator,  by  which  we  mean  the  parent 
first,  then  the  teacher,  and  last,  but  not  least,  every  one 
else  who  influences  the  growth  and  development  of  any 
child  or  youth,  —  and  this  last  evidently  takes  in  every- 
body. 

Moreover,  the  educator  may  always  safely  insist  upon 
the  qualities  that  belong  to  character  in  this  sense ;  but 
respecting  the  peculiar  gifts  of  each  individual,  he  must, 
as  it  were,  wait  upon  nature  and  be  guided  by  the  revela- 
tion she  makes.  It  is  risky  for  a  father  to  decide  that  his 
son  shall  be  a  physician  or  a  man  of  business  except  as  the 
son^s  own  development  gives  the  signs  of  fitness  for  the 
calling :  but  the  parent  must  needs  resolve  that  his  child 
shall  grow  up  into  honesty,  industry,  courage,  and  the 
other  indispensable  elements  of  character. 

The  question  before  us  then,  however  difficult  it  may 
be  to  answer,  is  easily  put :  What  qualities  must  be  found 
in  every  human  being  to  fit  him  for  a  happy  and  useful 
life,  as  an  individual  and  as  a  member  of  society ;  in  the 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


family,  the  social  circle,  the  church ;  as  a  citizen  and  as  a 
worker ;  and  in  the  hidden  reality  of  his  own  inner  life  ? 
The  answer  to  this  great  question  will  portray  the  general 
aim  of  education ;  every  one  who  interests  himself  in  the 
development  of  a  child  should  rightly  think  first  of  this 
universal  aim,  and  afterwards  of  the  peculiar  gifts  and 
individual  possibilities  of  the  child  concerned. 


CHAPTER  I 


Native  Tendencies 

The  child,  like  any  other  organism,  grows  from  within, 
and  thrives  only  when  his  natural  tendencies  are  given 
suitable  room  and  encouragement.  Whoever  wishes  to 
succeed  in  influencing  the  development  of  the  child  must 
first  seek  to  know  these  natural  tendencies,  and  then  find 
means  for  modifying  them  in  accordance  with  his  edu- 
cational aim.  The  recognition  of  these  natural  tendencies 
as  the  ultimate  basis  of  all  education  is  the  central  idea 
of  what  we  sometimes  call  the  New  Education,  although 
the  idea  was  not  unknown  even  as  far  back  as  the  time  of 
Plato,  and  of  course  has  always  dominated  really  good 
educational  practice,  whether  the  educator  knew  it  or 
not.  The  Old  Education,  in  the  bad  sense  of  the  word, 
implies  the  attempt  to  thrust  or  foist  upon  the  growing 
child  experiences  and  characters  that  do  not  fit  these 
natural  impulses.  Whatever  we  hope  to  fix  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  educated  person,  we  must  find  in  rudimentary 
form  in  the  child.  Hence  the  problem  of  the  formation 
of  character  must  begin  here,  in  a  study  of  what  we  may 
call  native  reactions,  or  impulses  and  movements  that 
arise  in  the  child  in  advance  of  any  training  or  teaching 
from  without. 

5 


6  THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 

A  certain  by-gone  philosophy  —  which  certainly  must 
have  quite  forgotten  aU  about  the  real  child  —  used  to 
speak  of  the  child's  nature  as  a  tabula  rasa,  or  ^  blank  page, ' 
upon  which  experience  and  training  might  write  what 
they  pleased.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  child's  nature  at 
birth,  Hke  that  of  a  calf  or  a  chick,  is  pretty  well  scribbled 
over  by  the  experience  of  its  ancestors.     It  is  far  from 
being  blank,  for  as  soon  as  the  little  organism  comes  into 
the  world,  it  begins  to  do  certain  things  and  do  them  with 
much  zeal  and  determination,  as  every  one  knows  who 
knows  real  children.     Only  in  very  recent  years  has  the 
profound  importance  of  these  early  actions  of  the  child 
been  recognized,  and  a  new  science  has  arisen  of  Child 
Study,  to  observe  and  record  these  phenomena,  and  seek 
to  discover  their  meaning  and  value  for  education.     To 
the  numerous  works  on  this  subject  we  refer  those  of  our 
readers  who  desire  full  and  technical  information  concern- 
ing the  native  tendencies  of  children ;  we  must  be  content 
here  with  mentioning  out  of  the  great  number  of  these 
tendencies  a  few  that  are  of  special  importance  in  the 
formation  of  the  elements  of  character. 

I.  First  of  aU  in  time,  at  least,  comes  bodily  activity. 
The  healthy  child  from  the  beginning  moves  body  and 
limbs  frequently  and  vigorously.  This  tendency  in- 
creases rapidly  in  the  first  few  months,  until  soon  the 
child  is  seldom  stiU  except  when  asleep,  and  this  constant 
activity  is  Hkely^to  last  for  a  good  many  years,  —  at  least 
long  enough  to  keep  the  primary  teacher  busy  for  some 
time  after  the  child  enters  school.     Now  the  mother  and 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES  7 

sometimes  the  teacher  are  very  apt  to  lose  patience  with 
this  motor  activity,  as  the  psychologist  calls  it,  and  they 
dub  it  plain  restlessness,  and  sometimes  ask  the  child 
querulously  if  he  cannot  sit  stiU  a  minute.    In  simple 
truth  he  cannot ;  or  at  best  only  on  rare  occasions,  when 
weary  or  sated  with  activity.     Indeed,  when  a  child  in 
the  first  two  or  three  years  of  life  inclines  to  stillness  and 
quiescence,  the  chances  of  its  living  out  the  perils  of  in- 
fancy are  small,  for  the  restless  activity  of  the  Uttle  one 
is  the  best  evidence  of  its  vigor  and  vitaHty.     Moreover, 
these  restless  and  often  apparently  aimless  motions  are 
the  indispensable  basis  of  several  parts  of  its  development : 
first,  its  bodily  growth  and  physical  control  depend  upon 
them;    out  of  the  random  and  confused  movements  of 
early  life,  by  a  wonderful  process  of  selection  and  habitua- 
tion,i  aj-ise  the  power  to  walk  and  run  and  jump,  as  weU  as 
the  marvelous  skUl  and  versatiUty  of  the  human  hand, 
and  all  other  forms  of  definite  muscular  control.     Only 
through  the  ceaseless  and  eternaUy  repeated  movements 
of  the  infant  and  Httle  child  can  the  helplessness  and  con- 
fusion of  early  movements  grow  into  the  order  and  defi- 
niteness  of  adult  control. 

Besides  this,  the  very  health  and  development  of  the 
body  and  its  organs  depend  upon  abundant  movement 
and  exercise  of  all  its  parts, -just  what  the  '^restless- 
ness" of  the  child  supplies.  The  adult  keeps  in  health 
by  the  activity  of  his  daily  occupation ;  the  child  has  no 
occupation  except  the  activity  itself ;  and  he  has  far  more 

1  See  Dewey,  "  Psychology,"  Chapter  on  Physical  Control. 


8 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


need  of  bodily  activity  than  has  the  adult,  for  he  is  in  the 
period  of  most  rapid  growth  and  development,  which 
doubles  and  trebles  the  need  of  exercise.    These  are  but 
the  simplest  functions  of  the  ceaseless  motion  of  the  child ; 
still  another  fundamental  use  is  found  in  the  contribution 
that  motion  makes  to  the  operation  of  the  senses,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  further  on.     The  most  important  point 
for  us  here,  however,  is  the  relation  of  child  activity  to  one 
of  the  basic  elements  of  character ;  the  habit  of  industry, 
with  all  that  it  means  for  success  and  happiness,  springs 
directly  from  the  restless  activity  of  the  child,  as  the  plant 
springs  from  the  seed.    The  tramp  and  the  lazy  man  are 
persons  in  whom  the  precious  shoot  of  activity  has  some- 
how been  marred  or  broken  beyond  repair ;    the  early 
activity  has  been  wasted  or  repressed,  and  the  vital  habit 
that  should  have  sprung  from  it  is  lost.     These  are  the 
thoughts  that  may  help  us  as  parents  and  teachers  to 
keep  down  the  natural  impatience  and  irritation  that  the 
unceasing  and  often  annoying  and  even  dangerous  activity 
of  the  child  stirs  in  us.     It  is  nature's  way  of  creating  the 
physical  strength  and  efficiency  of  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. 

This  first  great  impulse  of  childhood  dominates  the 
whole  early  life  of  the  child  in  the  form  of  play;  but  though 
activity  is  the  mainspring  of  play,  play  itself  actuates  and 
educates  every  other  impulse  and  element  of  the  child's 
nature,  and  must  be  given  the  place  of  honor  and  prefer- 
ence in  the  early  years  as  the  fit  and  proper  employment 
of  the  child ;  in  ideal  development  the  inner  consciousness 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES  9 

of  play  would  be  continued  into  adult  life,  and  only  the 
external  conditions  would  make  the  difference  between 
play  the  business  of  the  child,  and  work,  the  busmess  of 
the  adult.  It  is  a  mere  commonplace  to  say  that  the  best 
worker  is  the  one  who  retains  the  spontaneity,  vigor,  and 
enthusiastic  interest  of  childhood  play.        _ 

2   Sense-hunger  and  Curiosity.    Great  is  the  child  s 
impulse  to  work  upon  the  world  about  him  through  his 
muscular  powers ;   no  less  does  he  hunger,  as  it  were, 
to  take  in  the  world  through  his  senses.     Touch,  taste, 
sight,   hearing,  and  other   deeper-lying  senses,   and  m 
a  less  degree,  smell,  are  all  awake  and  eager.     Upon 
them  the  child  tries  whatever  comes  within  his  compass ; 
he  is  not  content  with  sight,  but  wants  to  use  handand 
mouth  also  upon  the  object.    Few  of  the  native  reactions, 
awkward  and  annoying  as  some  of  them  are,_are  so  ex- 
cessive and  so  dangerous  as  the  irresistible  impulse  to 
thrust  everything  into  the  mouth,  but  there  it  is,  filling 
the  mother's  days  with  anxiety  lest  pins  or  poison  or 
choking  should  imperil  the  baby's  life.    This  phenomenon 
of  child  Ufe,  with  its  incidents  of  dirt  eating  and  thumb 
sucking,  and  lasting  beyond  liquid  diet  and  teething  is 
enough  to  make  us  cautious  about  asserting  that  all  the 
impulses  of  infancy  have  a  use  and  justification ;  we  shall 
probably  do  well  to  conclude  that  some  of  them,_  hke  he 
appendk  among  our  organs,  are  superfluous  vestiges  of  a 
previous  stage  of  evolution. 

The  development  of  the  senses  under  the  stimulus  of  the 
sense-hunger  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  chapters  of 


10 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


il 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


II 


child-study.     Born  deaf  and  almost  blind,  with  little  or  no 
mamfestauon  of  smell,  and  probably  inferior  touch  and 
orgamc  senses,  the  little  one  swiftly  gains  use  and  control 
of  the  organs  that  are  to  reveal  the  world  to  him.     Pecul- 
iarly mteresting  is  the  indissoluble  union   between   the 
development  of  the  senses  and  that  muscular  activity  we 
have  already  discussed :  the  eye  is  the  best  example;  the 
new-born  baby  has  no  control  over  either  head  or  eyeball 
and  cannot  look  at  anything:  hence,  while  the  eye  itself  is 
perfect   the  chUd  does  not  properly  see  anything.     Very 
soon  the  head  begins  to  turn  toward  sounds  or  lights 
then  the  eyes  themselves  gain  the  power  to  move  in  thei; 
sockets  and  converge,  with  proper  accommodation  and 
focus   upon  a  definite  object;    then  the  child  truly  sees 

Indt-ff '  Tu  '''^  "'•■^^'^"^  ^<^"^->''  P"^-tion, 
and  swiftness  of  the  movements  of  the  eye  that  are  es- 
sential to  complete  vision  command  our  astonishment 
and  reverence:  these  the  child  acquires  in  the  first  year 
ot  life ;  but,  hke  so  many  other  achievements,  only  by 
grace  of  the  impulses  to  activity  and  to  sense  perception 
without  these  the  eye  would  linger  forever  in  the  dull  fish- 
vision  of  the  new-born  babe. 

Hardly  less  dependent  upon  muscular  activity  is  the 
sense  of  touch  :_  "Let  me  see  that,"  with  the  child,  means, 
Let  me  handle  it,  move  my  hands  over  it,  rub  it  'heft'  it  - 
and  so  forth.  The  educated  touch  that  we  'hear  of'  in 
textile  experts,  physicians,  and  others,  resides  probably 
as  much  m  the  muscles  as  in  the  sense  organs  themselves 
Hearing  is  also,  though  to  a  much  less  extent,  in  partner- 


ship with  movement:    posture  and  movements  of  the 
head  help  to  determine  direction  and  distance  of  sounds. 
Out  of  a  union  of  sense  impressions  the  child  gams  his 
ideas  of  things :  the  sight  of  an  orange  creates  the  desire 
to  touch  and  taste  and  smell  it :   and  these  impressions 
go  to  make  up  the  orange  as  the  child  knows  it.    So  the 
sense-hunger  leads  the  child  mind  forward  from  sensa- 
tions to  perceptions  of  things,  and  from  things,  related  to 
each  other,  and  experienced  both  actively  and  sensorially 
by  him,  he  constructs  his  world.  _ 

Now  this  sense-hunger  of  early  childhood,  while  it  does 
not  pass  away  entirely,  becomes  year  by  year  less  con- 
spicuous, and  gives  place  to  its  natural  successor,  which 
we  sometimes  call  curiosity;  this  name  we  adopt  with  the 
proviso  that  it  is  not  to  carry  any  of  its  usual  disappro- 
bation    Just  as  the  little  child  wants  to  see,  touch,  taste, 
smell,  everything  that  comes  within  his  reach,  because  it 
is  new  to  him,  and,  we  may  also  add,  because  he  needs  the 
acquaintance  he  gets  thereby :  so  the  older  child  wants  to 
know  about  all  the  new  things  that  come  his  way.    But  it 
is  not  usually  a  matter  of  color  or  form  or  taste  or  smell; 
it  is  more  likely  to  be  a  more  advanced  inqmry :     What 
is  it  for?"     "Where  does  it  come  from?"     "How  does 
it  work?"  and  a  thousand  such  like,  which  none  but  the 
father  or  mother  of  a  Uttle  lad  or  lass  could  begin  to  enu- 
merate.   It  is  of  course  very  easy  to  sit  in  a  quiet  room 
with  no  child  in  sight  or  hearing,  and  expand  upon  the 
beauty  and  power  of  this  child  impulse  of  questiomng,  and 
it  is  pretty  hard  always  to  Uve  up  to  the  idea  when  an 


12 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


actual  flesh-and-blood  child  is  pelting  one  with  what's  and 
why's  and  how's,  without  end,  and  often,  to  our  compre- 
hension, without  sense.  But  no  matter  how  hard  it  is  to 
live  up  to  the  truth,  yet  still  it  is  true,  that  this  harass- 
ing inquisitiveness  is  the  only  root  out  of  which  intelli- 
gence and  mental  power  can  grow,  and  the  parent  and 
teacher  must  needs  pray  for  grace  to  treat  it  accord- 
ingly. 

The  two  impulses  just  discussed,  of  activity  and  curi- 
osity, combine  in  the  constructive  impulse,  and  in  its  close 
relation,  the  destructive  impulse,  both  of  them  being 
conspicuous  in  every  normal  child.  The  destructive 
impulse  usually,  and  the  constructive  often,  constitute 
what  the  adult  terms  mischief.  This  is  why  the  most 
vigorous  and  healthy  children  make  the  most  mischief. 
The  propensity  of  all  children  to  meddle  with  what  they 
ought  not  to  touch  is  perfectly  clear :  what  they  ought  not 
to  touch  is  exactly  the  thing  that  by  that  very  fact  must 
stimulate  their  curiosity  to  the  highest  degree ;  and  it  is 
much  to  be  questioned  if  any  of  us  really  grow  quite  out  of 
this  stage.  The  child  must  needs  be  doing,  and  he  must 
needs  get  new  sense  experience  and  later  new  knowledge; 
result,  infalhbly  and  irresistibly,  —  mischief.  The  ex- 
ceeding value  of  the  constructive  impulse  needs  no  em- 
phasis ;  it  is  the  taproot  of  all  the  arts  and  crafts  of  the 
human  race.  It  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  of  early 
training  to  restrain  mischief  and  destruction  within 
reasonable  limits  without  unduly  repressing  the  whole- 
some activity  of  the  child. 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


13 


3.  Suggestibility.  One  of  the  commonest  fallacies  re- 
garding children  is  the  opinion  that  they  are  naturally 
disobedient ;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  child  has  a  natural 
tendency  to  do  what  he  is  told  to  do,  —  provided,  of 
course,  he  is  not  too  much  attracted  by  something  else 
and  has  not  a  positive  aversion  to  the  thing  commanded. 
Also,  provided  the  command  is  given  by  a  person  who  is 
not  obnoxious  to  him,  and  not  in  a  way  calculated  to 
arouse  his  antagonism.  A  good  many  provisos,  you  will 
say ;  yes,  surely,  and  I  should  not  Hke  to  warrant  the  list 
to  be  complete.  But  in  spite  of  this,  it  is  still  true,  that 
it  is  natural  to  a  child  to  do  what  he  is  told  to  do,  and, 
moreover,  in  actual  life,  children  act  in  accordance  with 
this,  or,  in  other  words,  obey,  far  oftener  than  they  dis- 
obey. The  trouble  is  that  one  disobedience  makes  more 
trouble  and  so  more  impression  upon  our  minds  than  a 
score  of  obediences.  A  disobedient  child  is  one  who 
disobeys,  as  his  mother  says,  often ;  in  strict  numerical 
ratio,  his  disobediences  would  usually  be  few  as  compared 
with  his  obediences.  Nothing  here  said  is  intended  as  an 
excuse  for  disobedience,  nor  for  the  weakness  of  discipline 
that  tolerates  it. 

Not  only  is  it  natural  for  a  child  to  do  what  he  is  told  to 
do ;  strange  as  it  may  sound,  he  has  a  distinct  tendency 
also  to  do  what  he  is  told  not  to  do.  And  yet  again,  he 
has  a  distinct  tendency  to  do  what  he  sees  done,  or  hears 
about,  or  whatever  in  any  way  comes  into  the  range  of 
his  perception.  All  these  tendencies,  which  are  really 
summed  up  in  the  last  sentence,  constitute  what  is  called 


14 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


suggestibility,  or  the  tendency  to  repeat  in  one^s  own 
person  any  act  the  image  of  which  enters  the  mind.  The 
most  clearly  recognized  form  of  this  great  tendency  is,  of 
course,  imitation. 

It  will  be  noted  that  while  it  is  wrong  to  say  that  chil- 
dren are  naturally  disobedient,  it  is  hardly  safe  to  say  that 
they  are  naturally  obedient :  for  obedience  is  much  more 
than  an  impulse,  and  it  is  not  native,  but  acquired. 
Moreover,  as  we  have  seen,  and  as  all  wise  parents  and 
teachers  know,  the  child  is  prone  to  do  the  very  thing  he 
is  told  not  to  do.  Hence  the  danger  of  prohibitions  in 
school  and  family  discipline :  telHng  boys  not  to  make  their 
snowballs  hard  nor  put  ice  or  stones  in  them  may  result 
in  the  very  conduct  that  is  forbidden.  For  the  very  idea 
of  the  act  has  a  natural  tendency  to  produce  the  act; 
in  other  words,  the  child  is  not  naturally  obedient,  nor 
naturally  disobedient,  but  is  naturally  suggestible.  The 
practical  inference  is  clear,  and  although  it  is  not  all  of 
discipline,  it  is  the  foundation  of  it,  —  to  present  to  the 
child's  mind  those  actions  that  we  wish  him  to  perform ; 
the  very  picture  of  desirable  acts  and  conduct  in  his 
mind  is  a  force  for  good ;  whether  the  picture  is  produced 
by  words  or  by  example,  the  result  tends  to  follow ;  and, 
per  contra^  to  avoid  as  far  as  practicable  presenting  un- 
desirable acts,  for  the  very  image  of  evil  deeds  and  bad 
conduct  is  in  itself  a  source  of  danger,  whether  the  image 
is  produced  by  bad  advice  or  bad  example.  Few  truths 
are  so  profoundly  important  in  education  as  this,  and  yet 
most  parents  and  not  a  few  teachers  fail  to  realize  its 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


IS 


significance ;  the  general  public  in  their  attitude  toward 
children  seem  to  heed  it  not  at  all. 

The  child's  eyes  and  ears  then  are  open  and  hungry 
for  deeds  and  conduct  that  he  may  copy :  "I  can  do  that," 
''See  me  do  that,"  ''Let  me  try  that,"  are  frequent  enough 
on  the  lips  of  children,  but  they  are  only  a  corporal's 
guard  of  the  army  of  the  imitative  impulses  that  swarm  in 
child-consciousness.  Nor  could  it  well  be  otherwise :  the 
baby  has  no  arts  nor  accomplishments,  and  must  learn 
all  before  it  can  become  grown  up.  The  simplest  pro- 
cesses of  daily  life,  eating,  dressing,  manners,  all  must  be 
learned,  and  mainly  through  this  suggestibility.  The 
most  complex  of  all  the  organic  arts,  speech,  would  never 
be  acquired  but  for  the  dominating  impulse  that  comes 
at  the  proper  time  and  leads  the  child  to  prattle  and 
chatter,  over  and  over  again,  every  word  and  sound  he 
hears.  Professor  James  has  called  the  child  a  behaving 
organism :  ^  it  would  be  as  correct  to  say  that  he  is  an 
imitating  machine,  for  imitation  really  precedes  behaving, 
and  furnishes  the  material  for  it.^ 

To  say  that  the  child  is  suggestible,  then,  means  that  he 
is  open  to  contagion  in  mind  as  well  as  in  body,  that  he 
'takes'  habits  and  manners  and  character  very  much  as 
he  takes  measles  or  whooping  cough,  from  any  one  who 
has  them.  Education  must  provide  quarantine  against 
bad  moral  infections,  as  departments  of  health  do  against 

1  See  that  golden  book  for  teacher  and  parent,  "  Talks  to  Teachers  on 
Psychology  and  to  Students  on  some  of  Life's  Ideals." 

2  For  full  and  expert  discussion  of  this  topic  see  "Suggestion  in  Educa- 
tion," by  M.  W.  Keatinge. 


i6 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


17 


bodily  contagions ;  and,  what  is  even  more  important,  it 
must  infect  the  child,  through  right  example  and  precept, 
and  noble  environment,  with  good  ideals  and  strong 
character. 

4.  Tastes  and  Esthetic  Appreciation.  What  children 
like  and  dislike  is  a  very  broad  field,  and  overlaps  on  some 
or  all  of  the  other  natural  tendencies  we  are  considering : 
let  us  note,  however,  two  parts  of  the  field  that  seem  to  be 
of  peculiar  importance.  First,  the  child  has  a  natural 
taste  for  wholesome  foods.  What,  says  the  mother,  are 
candy,  and  dirt,  and  soap,  and  pins,  wholesome  food? 
And  we  must  admit,  of  course,  that  these  are  but  a  few 
samples  of  the  endless  list  of  noxious  and  repugnant  things 
that  the  little  child  takes  to  with  avidity.  But  here, 
again,  as  in  the  case  of  suggestibility,  the  child  finds  no 
trouble  in  combining  contrary  qualities.  He  does  (though 
fortunately  not  with  equal  propensity)  both  what  he  is 
told  to  do,  and  what  he  is  told  not  to  do.  Likewise, 
although  we  must  admit  that  he  Hkes  many  contraband 
articles,  it  is  true  that  he  also  Hkes  his  milk  and  bread  and 
rice,  and  plenty  of  other  good  nourishing  foods  in  their 
season.  Moreover,  the  taste  for  dirt  and  pin  will  wear 
itself  out  in  the  course  of  nature,  if  happily  the  little  om- 
nivore  survives  the  perils  of  choking  and  poison,  as  he 
usually  does ;  but  the  taste  for  good  honest  food,  how- 
ever plain,  never  wears  out,  at  least  in  the  course  of 
nature.  It  is  sometimes  driven  out,  and  that  brings  us 
to  the  practical  lesson.  The  old-fashioned  mother  may 
be  wrong  in  thinking  sweets  unwholesome  for  children's 


il 


stomachs,  but  even  so,  her  practice  was  right,  for  the 
taste  for  sweets  is  very  bad  when  it  usurps  the  place  of 
authority  in  fixing  the  child's  diet.  There  are  children 
who  reach  school  age  without  knowing  the  taste  of  cake 
and  candy,  and  who  consequently  devour  plain  bread 
with  zest ;  and  there  are  other  children  whose  feeble  appe- 
tites must  be  tempted  with  coffee  and  spiced  viands. 
The  normal  and  healthy  child  has  a  native  tendency  that 
may  enable  him  as  a  grown  man  to  eat  bread  and  butter 
with  more  delight  than  most  people  find  in  a  dinner  at 
Delmonico's.  With  him,  good  digestion  does  wait  on 
appetite,  and  health  on  both. 

And   what   as   to   aesthetic   appreciation?     Comenius 
held  that  infancy  is  the  time  in  which  all  branches  of 
learning  and  culture  should  begin ;   and  the  capacity  to 
rejoice  in  beauty  of  every  form  is  no  exception.    Before 
the  child  can  articulate  a  single  word,  he  shows  delight  in 
bright  colors  and  flowers ;  almost,  and  in  some  cases  quite 
as  soon,  he  manifests  pleasure  in  musical  sound.    He 
stretches  out  his  tiny  hand  toward  moon  and  stars  and 
bright  water,  not,  as  is  sometimes  inferred,  to  grasp  them, 
but  in  natural  utterance  of  the  joy  he  feels.    Who  has  not 
seen  a  pair  of  boys,  not  yet  in  their  teens,  dawdling  along 
the  homeward  road  with  their  hands  full  of  bright  and 
variegated  flowers?    They  gathered  them  as  naturally 
and  unconsciously  as  the  rain  falls;   five,  or  even  two 
years  hence,  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  the  same  lads  will  be 
indifferent  or  scornful  of  flowers  and  of  a  host  of  other 
forms  of  beauty  that  charmed  their  childish  eyes;   and 


,i„.  ■■'-»_ 


i8 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


too  often,  once  grown  to  manhood,  the  cares  of  this  world 
have  sadly  choked  the  capacity  to  glow  and  thrill  with 
the  vision  of  the  rainbow  and  the  rose.  Boys  must  be 
boys,  and  we  must  all  agree  that  a  boy  in  his  teens  had 
better  like  flowers  too  httle  than  too  much,  for  he  is  in  the 
period  of  some  indispensable  natural  tendencies  that  have 
not  much  concord  with  the  gentler  aesthetic  feelings. 
But  the  grown  man  is  to  renew  and  embody  all  the  best 
that  springs  in  every  period  of  immaturity,  and  the  love 
of  beauty  is  one  of  these.  Education,  then,  must  not 
neglect  the  native  springs  of  aesthetic  appreciation  that 
abound  in  the  soul  of  the  child.  Of  the  cultivation  of 
these  tastes  more  will  be  said  in  a  later  chapter. 

5.  Self-assertion.  ''The  baby  new  to  earth  and  sky" 
may  not  know  that  'Hhis  is  I"  — but  he  knows  how  to 
make  all  the  rest  of  the  world  know  it ;  and  his  own  little 
intelligence  seems  early  to  wake  to  the  idea.  Under  the 
head  of  self-assertion  we  must  include  a  numerous  and 
varied  group  of  reactions  that  mingle  in  complicated 
relations  with  all  the  other  classes  of  tendencies.  Not 
seldom  to  the  young  mother  or  the  inexperienced  teacher 
it  seems  as  if  the  self-impulses  of  the  child  have  driven 
out  all  the  rest  and  founded  a  complete  tyranny  over  cliild 
and  all  about  him. 

The  first  sense  in  which  we  speak  of  self-assertion  is  the 
mere  vim  and  resolution  with  which  any  or  all  of  the 
child's  natural  reactions  utter  themselves,  especially  when 
obstacles  get  in  the  path  of  his  impulses.  It  is  this  push 
and   thrust  of  the  child's  impulses  that  cause  our  ex- 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


19 


clamations  that  "He  has  a  will  of  his  own!"  and  the 
mother's  distressed  and  despairing  ''I  can  do  nothing  with 
him,"  or  ''Did  you  ever  see  such  willf uhiess ? "  and  the 
like.    The  next  point  is  the  child's  disregard  for  the  in- 
terests and  feelings  of  others,  and  for  the  value  and  safety 
of  the  furniture  or  whatever  else  comes  in  his  path. 
People  and  animals  are  ruthlessly  bruised  and  maltreated, 
polished  tables  marred  beyond  the  power  of  varnish  to 
restore,  and  jewelry  and  bric-a-brac  reduced  to  fragments. 
Then  there  are  a  number  of  special  and  extremely  impor- 
tant responses  to  opposition :   the  Uttle  would-be  auto- 
crat strikes,  scratches,  bites,  fights,  without  any  rules  of 
the  game  except  to  gain  his  point :  when  other  measures 
fail,  he  stiffens  his  Uttle  frame  and  even  holds  his  breath, 
until  the  mother  or  nurse  capitulates  in  mere  terror. 

Of  course  the  saving  respect  in  all  this,  so  far  as  it  con- 
cerns early  childhood,  is  that  the  chHd  is  not  really  willful, 
but  only  will-full,  and  this  latter  he  must  be,  if  he  is  ever 
to  be  a  real  bone-and-sinew  man ;  nor  is  his  destruction 
of  the  furniture  and  ornaments  vandalism,  but  only  happy 
unawareness  of  the  nature  and  value  of  what  he  smashes ; 
and,  above  aU,  his  fierce  attacks  upon  his  mother  and 
nurse  are  not  cruelty,  but  only  defect  and  ignorance : 
ignorance  of  the  feelings  of  any  one  but  himself,  and  de- 
fect of  the  altruism  that  comes  naturaUy  with  a  little  more 
growth,  —  indeed,  is  even  now  building  in  his  soul  in  un- 
mistakable charm.     Certainly  we  may  weU  believe  that 
part  of  the  pugnacity  and  fury  that  mark  some  of  the 
*  spells^  of  some   children  might  weU  be  spared:    but 


"        — » 


20 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


education  always  has  to  concern  itself  partly  with  'letting 
the  ape  and  tiger  die,'  and  the  little  child  has  its  full  share 
of  the  lower  inheritance  of  the  race.  The  comforting  fact 
concerning  these  self-asserting  impulses  is  that  they  are 
common  to  all  normal  children,  varying,  of  course,  in  form 
and  force ;  the  young  mother's  shuddering  fear  that  her 
baby  is  destined  to  become  a  monster  of  violence  and 
cruelty  is  quite  unfounded.  But  only  devoted  love, 
coupled  with  wisdom  and  resolution,  can  solve  the  per- 
plexing problems  arising  from  these  stormy  elements  in 
the  child.  We  no  longer  believe  in  the  old  plan  of  'break- 
ing the  will ' ;  yet  we  dare  not  go  to  the  other  extreme  of 
indulging  the  blind  and  violent  impulses  of  the  little 
ignorant  and  undisciplined  scion  of  humanity.  For- 
tunately there  are  some  tendencies  yet  to  catalogue  that 
give  light  and  aid  in  the  control  and  cultivation  of  these. 

Furthermore,  from  the  crude  impulses  of  self-assertion, 
disciplined  and  organized  through  experience  and  training, 
arise  the  indispensable  virtues  of  self-respect  and  rational 
confidence  in  one's  own  powers.  These  are  supporting 
and  preservative  as  well  as  energizing  elements  in  char- 
acter, and  the  dynamic  force  demanded  in  them  can  come 
from  no  other  source  than  the  native  impulses ;  the  energy 
which  without  direction  is  destructive  becomes  under 
rational  control  beneficent  and  constructive.  Just  as 
self-assertion  constantly  reenforces  all  the  impulsions  of 
the  child,  so  these  qualities  give  permanent  strength  to 
character  and  vigor  to  conduct. 

6.  Love,    Just  as  natural  and  spontaneous  as  the  rest 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


21 


of  the  impulses  is  the  impulse  to  love.  The  love  that 
springs  in  the  soul  of  the  child  is  destined  to  cover  a  mul- 
titude of  sins  in  that  it  is  the  supreme  influence  in  the 
mitigation  and  control  of  all  the  violent  and  dangerous 
elements  in  his  make-up.  The  existence  of  this  tendency 
is  powerfully  impress'^d  upon  all  who  look  with  seeing  eyes 
upon  the  outer  manifestations  of  the  child's  life.  It  is 
hard  to  say  just  when  affection  begins,  but  by  the  age  of  a 
year  and  a  half  it  has  become  conspicuous :  the  wealth 
and  variety  of  the  baby's  expressions  of  affection  are 
wonderful:  naturally  the  mother  is  usually  the  prime 
favorite,  and  upon  her  are  lavished  the  ardent  gaze  of  the 
eyes,  tender  tones  of  the  voice,  and  fervid  caresses.  Even 
at  this  tender  age,  absence,  if  not  too  protracted,  does 
make  the  heart  grow  fonder,  and  the  delight  of  the  child 
when  the  mother  reappears  is  a  thing  to  conjure  tears  and 

smiles. 

Besides  the  love  bestowed  by  the  child  upon  its  real  and 
actual  kin  and  companions,  it  has  the  capacity  for  a  re- 
markable prophetic  or  symbolic  emotion,  which  is  mani- 
fested upon  the  slightest  opportunity,  —  the  love  of  doUs : 
r.  baby  just  over  eighteen  months  old,  who  had  seen  and 
handled  a  doll  with  the  greatest  delight,  rolled  up  her 
Httle  blanket,  probably  more  than  half  accidentally,  into 
something  the  form  of  the  beloved  rag  doll,  and  began  with 
a  sort  of  surprised  delight  to  pat  and  caress  the  almost 
shapeless  bundle ;  so  near  to  each  other  do  humor  and 
profound  significance  often  lie  in  this  life  of  ours.  Her- 
bert Spencer  complains  in  his  "Education,"  that  for  the 


i 


22 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


23 


one  occupation  that  nine  tenths  of  all  people  must  follow, 
that  is,  for  parenthood,  education  provides  no  prepara- 
tion ;  Nature,  at  least,  has  not  been  so  delinquent. 

We  cannot  pass  from  this  subject  without  emphasizing 
the  greatness  and  power  of  the  impulse  of  love  in  the 
child.  Bad  things  have  a  way  of  making  more  noise  in 
the  world  than  good,  as  any  morning  paper  will  abun- 
dantly and  often  disgustingly  demonstrate.  So  we  are 
apt  to  miscalculate  the  proportion  of  the  various  con- 
stituents of  child  nature.  Love  is  quiet  and  soothing: 
pugnacity  is  boisterous,  and  self-will  is  exasperating; 
love  is  grateful  and  entertaining,  curiosity  is  annoying 
and  tedious.  So  we  fall  into  the  belief,  or  at  least  the 
habit  of  asserting,  that  children  are  naturally  willful,  in- 
quisitive, meddlesome,  mischievous,  —  and  seldom  dwell 
on  the  far  more  important  truth  that  they  are  eminently 
loving.  The  child  will  even  turn  from  its  most  passionate 
rebellion  with  a  caress  for  the  parent  who  is  punishing  it : 
so  powerfully  does  the  impulsion  of  love  spring  in  the  heart 
of  infancy.  It  is  not  well  for  us  to  give  the  evil  a  pre- 
ferred place  in  our  thought;  spiritual  progress  depends 
upon  our  rather  dwelling  upon  the  good,  so  that  its  real 
place  in  life  may  expand  by  virtue  of  its  predominance  in 
our  minds.  The  simple  instinctive  love  of  the  child  for 
parents,  nurse,  playmates,  and  friends  is  the  root  out  of 
which  grow  all  the  altruistic  elements  that  raise  human 
character  and  conduct  to  its  highest  level.  For  so  great 
a  task  it  is  well  that  nature  has  provided  so  deep-rooted 
and  pervasive  an  impulse. 


Modern  educational  thought  justly  lays  great  stress 
upon  the  social  impulse.  The  effective  force  of  this  im- 
pulse is  that  moderate  form  of  love  that  we  call  affection 
or  liking.  There  is  also  involved  a  special  form  of  curi- 
osity of  great  strength,  that  causes  a  child  to  be  intensely 
interested  in  other  children  of  about  his  own  age ;  every 
one  knows  how  even  two  babies  in  their  carriages  will  be 
mutually  fascinated  at  sight.  As  development  proceeds, 
the  original  impulse  is  reenforced  by  the  common  life  and 
interests  of  the  child  with  those  of  the  same  age  or  stage 
of  development.  It  is  also  widened  to  take  in  other  ages, 
and  deepened  by  affection,  and  thus  becomes  a  mature 

social  nature. 

7.  Joy.  Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  healthy 
childhood  than  happiness,  and  nothing  is  more  condu- 
cive to  perfect  development.  The  child's  countenance 
lends  itself  willingly  to  smiles  and  laughter :  it  is  humor- 
ously suggestive  that  the  same  physiological  condition 
that  sours  the  face  of  the  adult  draws  the  baby's  features 
into  a  counterfeit  of  a  smile,  for  the  doctor  teUs  us  that 
the  first  smiles  of  infancy  are  really  the  result  of  some 
slight  disturbance  in  the  small  stomach.  "  Pleased  with  a 
rattle  and  tickled  with  a  straw"  would  be  contemptuous 
enough  applied  to  an  adult,  but  it  expresses  a  beneficent 
truth  concerning  the  child,  —  a  truth  for  which  mothers  are 
heartily  grateful,  and  which  has  a  significance  far  beyond 
the  moment  both  for  mother  and  child.  The  physiologist 
tells  us  that  pleasure  is  the  natural  accompaniment  of 
healthy  acti\ity:   growing  pains,  of  which  we  used  to 


24 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


hear  so  much,  are  probably  a  superstition,  and  growth 
painless,  if  not  actually  pleasure-producing.  Certain  it  is 
that  growth  and  the  joy  of  Ufe  run  parallel,  and  that  any 
environment  and  regimen  that  darken  the  child's  Hfe 
also  retard  and  even  deform  his  development.  So  while 
there  will  needs  be  some  tears  and  pain,  partly  through 
natural  causes  and  partly  for  discipline,  yet  no  education 
can  hope  to  prosper  unless  in  the  main  it  conserves  the 
natural  light  and  cheer  of  childhood.  How  woefully 
some  systems  and  methods  have  sinned  against  this  law 
has  been  shown,  possibly  with  some  excess  of  portrayal, 
by  Dickens,  in  the  early  chapters  of  ''  David  Copperfield  " 
and  elsewhere.  Other  things  being  equal,  — and  there  is 
much  meat  in  that,  —  the  better  educational  method  is 
the  one  that  makes  the  child  happy.  It  must  be  ad-  ^ 
mitted  that  the  pedagogy  of  our  day,  especially  in  the 
home,  has  shown  a  tendency  to  let  this  criterion  override 
some  other  weighty  considerations,  and  so  kindness  has 
lapsed  into  indulgence,  instruction  into  amusement,  and 
discipUne  into  coddling ;  this  is  the  sort  of  treatment  that 
revenges  itself  early  and  sharply.  Yet  the  truth  still  re- 
mains, in  spite  of  all  misinterpretations. 

Manifestly  a  tendency  to  be  happy  and  to  welcome  the 
objects  and  incidents  of  Hfe  somewhat  as  the  child  does 
is  a  quahty  worth  retaining  in  maturity.  With  this  in 
mind,  one  is  tempted  to  declare  that  this  last  tendency  is 
the  most  important  of  all  we  have  discussed :  we  recall, 
however,  that  several  of  the  others  are  pretty  big  with 
meaning,  and  decide  that  it  is  like  the  rest  not  merely 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


25 


important,  but  essential,  inasmuch  as  without  it  no  full 
and  rich  human  character  is  possible. 

8.  Fear.     All  the  other  impulses  we  have  considered, 
while  they  come  into  conflict  with  each  other  occasionally 
and,  as  it  were,  accidentaUy,  really  tend  to  harmony  and 
mutual    stimulus    and    encouragement.    They    are    all 
positive,  and  all  grow  into  the  very  texture  of  the  mature 
life,  contributing  directly  to  its  fullness  and  perfection. 
We  now  come  to  a  tendency  which  is  the  opposite  of  all 
this,  —  fear,  which  is  the  enemy  of  every  other  impulse, 
blocking  its  expression,  and  choking  its  freedom:   and 
which  is  no  less  the  enemy  of  fullness  and  freedom  in  the 
mature  life.    It  is  the  great  negating  power  in  the  organ- 
ism :  in  its  milder  forms  it  chills  and  discourages  all  other 
impulsions,  and  in  its  intenser  forms  it  either  paralyzes 
all  activity,  — as  in  the  case  of  the  ^^ frozen"  rabbit  or 
squirrel,  —  or  throws  the  organism  into  violent  and  often 
confused  and  aimless  movement.     Particularly  is  fear 
the  fatal  antagonist  of  joy ;  joy  is  the  natural  accompani- 
ment and  stimulus  of  healthy  activity  of  every  sort :  fear 
checks  the  activity,  and  turns  the  inner  sense  of  delight 
and  exuberance  into  panic  and  misery. 

The  use  of  fear  in  the  economy  of  nature  is  of  course 
the  preservation  of  the  organism  from  dangers ;  the  young 
of  the  lower  animals  are  constantly  guided  by  impulses 
of  instinctive  fear,  and  would  never  escape  the  perils  that 
beset  them  without  these  safeguards.  But  the  case  is 
very  different  with  the  human  infant :  with  it  fear  plays 
a  far  smaller  part,  and  that  part  mostly  a  useless  one. 


26 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


The  little  child  may  live  day  after  day  apparently  without 
the  experience  of  fear :  his  utter  lack  of  restraint  over  his 
crying  shows  the  contrast  between  him  and  the  silent 
babies  of  forest  and  meadow;  as  Fiske  has  said,  the 
cry  of  the  human  infant  is  a  declaration  of  the  sovereignty 
of  his  race.  Even  when  fear  does  arise  in  the  child,  it  is 
more  often  than  not  a  vestigial  and  useless  remnant  from 
prehistoric  periods,  —  as,  for  example,  the  terror  of  fur 
sometimes  manifested  by  a  child  a  few  months  old ;  an 
impulse  that  harks  back  to  the  cave  dwelHng  subhuman 
man,  and  is  quite  useless  to  the  modern  child.  Then 
again  the  child  will  cUng  almost  convulsively  to  the 
mother  whose  loving  grasp  is  perfect  safety;  but  he 
will  walk  off  the  steps  or  the  unguarded  porch  to 
a  perilous  fall.  He  is  likely  to  be  more  frightened 
at  an  innocent  strange  man  than  at  a  dangerous  dog. 
And  alas,  for  pins  and  needles,  buttons,  and  poison.  Nature 
has  left  him  quite  without  the  safeguard  of  fear.  In  fine, 
it  is  evident  that  fear  is  a  decadent  element  in  the  child : 
it  has  little  place  in  his  inner  life,  and  less  use  in  his  outer 
experience. 

And  yet  we  must  at  once  set  over  against  this  two 
points ;  first,  that  the  fears  of  the  child  that  do  arise  are 
often  terrible  and  overmastering  almost  beyond  adult 
comprehension.  So  far  as  the  infant  is  concerned,  no  one 
can  doubt  this  who  has  witnessed  the  shriek  and  convul- 
sive shudder  of  the  fur  terror;  as  to  the  fears  of  later 
childhood  we  can  read  their  terror  still  even  in  our  own 
faded  early  memories.    The  clear  lesson  from  this  is  the 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES  ^.^,  ^7 ^  ^ 

need  for  the  most  patient  and  tender  consideration  for 
the  fears  of  small  children.    The  frightened  child  is  help- 
less  in  the  grip  of  an  ancestral  terror,  now  quite  empty  and 
irrational,  but  to  the  cWld  as  real  and  horrible  as  ever; 
the  task  of  the  parent  or  elder  is  to  soothe  away  the 
emotion  and  kindle  the  Hght  of  reason  and  so  emancipate 
the  Httle  soul  from  the  dread  inheritance.    Playing  upon 
a  chHd's  fears,  and,  above  aU,  creating  new  ones  with 
stories  of  the  bogeyman,  are  the  very  height  of  foUy  or 
wickedness.    These  forms  of  fear  are  to  be  eliminated  by 
encouragement  and  enlightenment. 

But  secondly,  fear  has  its  uses  even  in  civiUzed  human 
life :  very  early  the  baby  can  be  taught  to  fear  the  hot 
stove  the  faU  from  the  steps,  the  sharp  pin,  and  many  of 
the  other  dangers  of  the  environment  into  which  its  birth 
has  brought  it.  These  are  the  first  steps  of  the  long  path 
from  the  panic  fears  of  infancy  to  the  fear  of  parents,  and 
that  ^Tear  of  the  Lord,"  which  is  the  symbolic  expression 
for  the  highest  reaches  of  character. 

9  The  Growing-up  Impulse.  We  have  next  to  discuss 
a  tendency  that  is  strongly  marked  in  both  childhood  and 
youth,  but  which  is  not  ordinarily  described  in  works  on 
psychology  or  child-study  as  a  separate  impulse  or  in- 
stinct. Possibly  it  may  be  merely  a  resultant  of  more 
elementary  tendencies,  especially  suggestibihty  and  self- 
assertion,  but  we  incline  to  believe  that  it  is  distinct  from 
either  At  any  rate,  it  is  so  exceedingly  important  an  in- 
fluence upon  development  and  education,  that  it  deserves 
a  place  by  itself  here.    This  is  the  maturing  or  ''  growing- 


"-y 


w 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


29 


,  u{)^'  tendency  or  impulse.  All  young  human  beings  want 
to  be  older :  the  little  child  wants  to  be  boy  or  girl :  the 
boy  or  girl  longs  to  be  a  young  man  or  woman,  and  the 
youth  yearns  to  be  a  full-grown  man.  The  lad  in  high 
school  ardently  desires  the  time  for  graduation  and  college 
to  come;  once  in  the  freshman  class  he  wants  to  be  a 
senior. 

Now  this  naturally  manifests  itself  most  plainly  in 
imitation,  but  imitation  is  not  all  of  it,  nor  indeed  its  es- 
sence, but  simply  its  most  direct  expression  or  channel. 
The  growing-up  impulse  has  a  marked  negative  form,  in 
that  the  child  of  almost  any  age  looks  down  with  more  or 
less  contempt  upon  his  juniors  and  all  their  affairs  :  two 
children  met,  one  four  and  the  other  two  years  old ;  the 
younger  called  the  older  "Baby,"  and  the  four-year-old 
was  filled  with  indignation,  and  cried,  "She  called  me 
BabyT'  Moreover,  the  child  wants  not  merely  to  be 
like  some  one  else  who  is  older,  but  to  achieve  his  own 
older  self,  which  is  much  more  than  imitation. 

Every  parent  and  teacher  is  acquainted  with  the  signs 
of  this  maturing  impulse :  one  of  the  most  famihar  and 
amusing  forms  is  the  fondness  of  little  girls  for  rigging 
out  in  their  mothers'  old  skirts  and  tripping  up  and  down 
making  calls  and  serving  afternoon  tea.  Boys  affect  the 
characters  of  manhood  as  they  see  them,  —  loud,  masterful 
tones,  long  steps,  swaggering  gait,  and,  above  all,  smok- 
ing and  even  swearing.  The  manners  of  their  younger 
playmates,  on  the  other  hand,  are  to  be  strictly  avoided 
and  cast  off  as  signs  of  infancy. 


The  educative  value  of  this  impulse  needs  no  proof : 
every  wise  teacher  knows  how  to  say  to  a  boy:    "Your 
behavior  would  be  excusable  in  a  child  of  eight  in  the 
primary  room,  but  it  is  quite  unworthy  of  a  boy  of 
twelve."    At  every  age  of  developing  life,  powerful  appeal 
may  be  made  to  the  instinctive  yearning  to  be  older,  more 
mature,  more  grown-up :   in  school  instruction  and  dis- 
cipline, and  in  home  duties  and  conduct,  this  impulse  is  a 
constant  source  of  stimulus  and  direction.     Particularly 
does  this  impulse  make  for  self-control  in  all  its  forms  and 
range :   the  child  perceives  that  older  people  are  quieter, 
more  orderly,  less  apt  to  disturb  or  annoy  others,  and  so 
on  through  all  the  details  of  mature  ways  and  manners. 
Then  he  may  easily  be  brought  to  embody  these  desirable 
qualities  in  his  ideal  of  his  own  maturer  self,  toward  which 
the  maturing  impulse  is  moving  him. 

Few  impulses  are  more  in  need  of  enlightenment,  for  the 
child  in  all  his  periods  is  extremely  susceptible  to  the  common 
human  fallacy  of  the  conspicuous  and  external.  The  boy, 
for  example,  is  prone  to  seize  upon  smoking  and  swearing 
as  the  true  marks  of  a  man  and  copy  them  with  avidity ; 
this  is  the  true  reason  for  his  peculiar  weakness  for  these 
petty  vices ;  the  best  remedy  is  to  imbue  his  mind,  from 
the  dawn  of  intelligence  onward,  with  a  truer  view  of  what 
real  manhood  consists ;  let  him  see  these  cheap  imitations 
in  their  true  light  as  at  best  mere  externals,  and  often 
symptoms  of  weakness  and  defect,  of  something  less  than 
full  manhood  and  ripeness  of  power  and  self-direction. 
Above  all,  let  him  perceive  that  any  habit  or  manner  that 


30 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


enslaves  the  will  is  quite  incompatible  with  the  freedom 
and  independence  of  full-grown  human  nature. 

The  greatest  care  should  be  taken  not  to  check  or  dam- 
age this  impulse  of  development:  the  child  naturally 
takes  himself  and  his  affairs  seriously,  and  it  is  right  that 
he  should  do  so ;  let  his  elders  then  do  the  same ;  never 
ridicule  or  repress  his  budding  sense  of  worth  and  matur- 
ity, but  rather  meet  him  more  than  halfway,  show  re- 
spect and  consideration  for  bis  ambitions  and  hopes,  be 
eager  to  treat  him  as  older  than  his  years;  don't  talk 
down  to  him  too  much,  but  rather  give  much  opportunity 
for  him  to  stretch  up  toward  the  ideas  and  ideals  you 
present  to  him. 

Finally,  the  maturing  impulse  is  the  great  spring  of 
self-education,  and  self-education  is  of  course  the  truest 
and  most  important  form  of  education,  —  indeed,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense  it  is  the  only  education  worth  the  name,  all 
other  being  rather  mere  training  and  drilling  from  without. 
It  is  the  maturing  impulse  that  can  furnish  power  to  keep 
the  inner  improvement  activities  of  the  child  and  youth 
moving  out  of  school  hours,  and  after  school  years,  and 
carry  him  indefinitely  onward  in  the  upward  cHmb  of 
individual  achievement.  The  full  stature  of  intelligence, 
capacities,  and  will  power  is  the  goal  of  the  best  self- 
culture  ;  it  is  the  star  to  which  the  youth  must  hitch  his 
wagon,  or  rather  toward  which  he  must  drive,  and  the 
maturing  impulse  is  the  vital  force  that  makes  the  at- 
tachment and  provides  the  mutive  power. 

lo.  The  Love  of  Approbation.     The  fact  that  children 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


31 


are  instinctively  sensitive  to  praise  and  blame  is  universally 
recognized.     It  is  not  always  so  clearly  perceived  that 
Nature  could  hardly  have  devised  a  more  effective  means 
of  education,  and  that  the  proper  use  of  the  impulse 
should  be  studied  most  earnestly  and  managed  with  the 
most  scrupulous  care.    The  tendency  of  the  child  to  seek 
approval  and  shun  blame  from  his  elders  arms  the  eye  and 
voice  of  the  parent  and  teacher  with  cogent  force,  and 
enables  them  to  win  countless  "bloodless"  victories  in 
discipline  and  training.     Through  this  tendency  desired 
acts  may  be  clothed  with  preference  in  the  child's  mind, 
and  faults  may  be  marked  for  elimination,  and  thus  the 
formation  of  habit  may  be  greatly  influenced.     In  a  later 
period  of  mental  growth,  ideals  and  principles  may  be 
reenforced  or  discouraged  by  the  approval  or  condemna- 
tion of  the  educator.    Finally,  there  may  be  developed 
in  the  young  mind  that  desirable  element  of  character 
which  is  referred  to  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
"a  decent  respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind." 

This  particular  tendency  is  peculiarly  subject  to  per- 
version and  decay.  It  may  serve  false  and  foolish  ad- 
mirations and  quaUties  as  well  as  good :  it  may  entice  the 
child  away  from  the  influence  of  the  parent  almost  as 
easily  as  it  may  hold  him  under  the  parent's  power.  It 
is  easily  overstrained :  we  must  not  blame  too  seriously 
what  may  seem  to  the  child  a  trivial  fault  or  even  an 
innocent  deed,  for  by  so  doing  we  may  open  up  a  gulf 
between  him  and  us  that  may  chill  and  weaken  his  whole 
sense  of  our  opinions  and  attitudes.    The  parent  whose 


32 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


approval  is  still  potent  when  the  child  has  grown  to  ma- 
turity has  achieved  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  vital 
tasks  in  education. 

We  have  described  briefly  what  we  believe  to  be  the 
leading  tendencies  of  early  childhood,  with  which,  there- 
fore, education  must  begin.  As  the  child  grows  out  of 
infancy  his  reactions  become  more  varied  and  complex, 
and  soon  outgrow  the  short  and  simple  catalogue  we  have 
set  down.  The  new  forms  are  partly,  perhaps  mainly, 
developments  from  the  simpler  and  earlier  ones;  ac- 
quisitiveness probably  springs  from  self-assertion  and 
curiosity,  the  clan  or  gang  impulse  of  boyhood  from 
affection  and  the  social  impulse,  and  so  on.  But  new 
elements  still  spring  periodically  from  the  fruitful  soil  of 
the  developing  nature.  One  of  the  most  distinct  and 
most  momentous  of  these  is  the  impulse  of  sex,  the  first 
inklings  of  which  are  indeed  lost  in  the  obscure  recollec- 
tions of  childhood,  but  whose  clear  manifestation  occurs 
later  and  marks  what  is  called  the  epoch  of  puberty, 
when  the  sexual  organs  attain  physiological  completeness. 
Happily,  much  expert  study  is  now  being  devoted  to  this 
vital  subject  by  the  physiologist,  the  psychologist,  and 
the  student  of  education.  It  does  not  come  within  the 
reach  of  our  discussion  at  this  point;  in  referring  the 
reader  to  works  on  the  subject,^  we  add  one  word  of 

^  Some  of  the  most  available  sources  of  information  are : 

Hall :  From  Youth  into  Manhood,  New  York,  1909. 

Wilson :  The  American  Boy  and  the  Social  Evil.    Philadelphia,  1905. 

Sperry,  Lyman  B. :   Confidential  Talks  with  Young  Men. 

Sperry :  Confidential  Talks  with  Young  Women. 


NATIVE   TENDENCIES 


33 


caution:  puberty  and  adolescence  in  the  human  being 
are  spiritual  more  than  physical.  The  way  of  the  youth 
and  the  maid  is  often  wonderful  in  its  ethereal  purity  and 
elevating  power :  the  first  intersexual  affection,  laughed 
at  as  ''puppy-love,"  too  often  puts  to  shame  the  later 
passion  of  the  maturer  man.  In  this  fact  lie  hope  and 
safeguards;  educational  wisdom  here  as  elsewhere  con- 
sists not  in  attempting  to  crush  natural  impulses,  but  in 
nurturing  the  good  into  domination  over  the  lower  ele- 
ments, and  achieving  the  harmonious  coordination  of 
the  inner  forces.^ 

Hall,  G.  Stanley  :  Aspects  of  Child  Life  (Ginn).    Especially  paper  on 
"Curiosity  and  Interest,"  pp.  84-141. 

Valuable  pamphlets  and  full  information  on  this  subject  may  be  had 

free  from  the  following  societies :  — 

The  Society  of  Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophylaxis,  9  East  Forty-third  St., 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

The  Chicago  Society  of  Social  Hygiene,  100  State  St.,  Chicago. 

The  Spokane  Society  of  Social  and  Moral  Hygiene,  207  Nichols  Block, 
Spokane,  Washington. 

1  See  "  The  Genius  of  the  American  High  School,"  Educational  Review, 

December,  1909,  pp.  471-473,  477-478. 


CHAPTER  II 


The  Treatment  of  Native  Tendencies 

In  our  survey  of  the  native  tendencies  of  the  child  we 
have  not  felt  it  necessary  nor  desirable  to  check  the 
hopeful  enthusiasm  that  arises  from  contemplation  of  the 
elements  with  which  Nature  has  endowed  the  healthy 
and  normal  child.  To  avoid  serious  misunderstanding, 
however,  we  need  here  to  explain  what  we  mean  by  the 
proper  regard  for  the  impulses  of  the  child,  of  whatever 
sort  they  may  be.  We  certainly  do  not  mean  that  the 
educator  is  to  throw  down  the  reins,  and  let  the  impulses 
of  the  child  go  where  they  will.  Tie  must  be  something 
more  than  an  interested  spectator  or  even  a  self-denying 
victim.  What  he  must  avoid  is  first  ignorance  of  the 
profound  meaning  and  value  of  the  impulses,  and  second, 
impatience  and  irritation  at  the  undeniable  annoyance 
and  exasperation  that  often  result  from  them.  But  the 
child  is  to  grow  into  a  man  or  woman,  and  to  that  end 
must  gradually  and  by  gentle  progressions  put  away 
childish  things  and  acquire  the  intelligence,  reason,  and 
quiet  self-control  of  the  adult.  This  he  will  never  do  by 
himself,  but  only  by  the  aid  of  his  elders,  —  parents, 
teachers,  and  other  associates.    The  impulses  are  indeed 

34 


the  treatment  of  native  tendencies 


35 


the  stuff  out  of  which  character  is  to  grow ;  but  they  are 
raw  material,  sometimes  very  raw  indeed ;  education  is 
in  a  sense  a  process  of  manufacture,  and  the  final  product 
is  achieved  only  through  many  and  profound  changes. 
The  educational  vices  in  dealing  with  children  and  their 
native  reactions  are  ignorance,  heedlessness,  impatience, 
frivolity,  —  and  in  some  few  cases,  meddlesome  interfer- 
ence with  the  hidden  process  of  nature ;  the  virtues  to  set 
over  against  these  are  lively  interest  and  intelligent  study 
of  the  native  impulses  and  their  function,  and  loving, 
patient,  resolute  activity  in  their  nurture  and  guidance. 
It  is  clear  that  educational  duty  will  sometimes  involve 
restraint,  prohibition,  and  even  coercion;  an  education 
without  these  would  be  fit  only  for  a  jellyfish.  The 
child  who  is  full  and  running  over  with  muscular  im- 
pulses has  quietness  and  self-control  to  learn :  the  adult 
who  cannot  sit  still  is  as  pitiable  as  the  child  who  through 
low  vitality  sits  still  too  much.  The  wise  parent  will 
sometimes  require  and,  if  need  be,  compel  the  child  to  sit 
still,  even  much  against  its  owti  desire.  Likewise,  the 
wise  parent  must  sometimes  check  the  child's  flow  of 
questions,  —  not  in  irritation  or  from  impatience,  but  for 
a  good  reason,  explained  to  the  child  if  practicable,  it 
being  always  imderstood  that  some  good  reasons  cannot 
be  explained  to  the  child.  The  native  tendencies  are 
absolutely  the  only  stuff  out  of  which  human  character 
can  grow ;  but  they  are  still  only  the  raw  material.  They 
are  to  be  neither  crushed  nor  indulged,  but  cultivated; 
and  their  cultivation  will  inevitably  demand  inhibition 


36 


THE    ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


and  even  repression  as  well  as  the  richer  process  of  stimu- 
lation and  encouragement. 

The  broadest  general  principle  of  education  is  to  fix 
attention  upon  the  good,  both  for  its  own  sake  and  as  the 
final  means  for  conquering  the  bad.  Overcome  evil  through 
good  should  be  the  constant  maxim  of  parent  and  teacher. 
The  Apostle's  injunction  applies  to  both  educator  and 
child,  "Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are 
honorable,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things 
are  pure,  ...  if  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  be  any 
praise,  think  on  these  things."  Our  lives  are  inspired 
and  molded  not  by  what  we  must  not  do,  but  by  what 
we  positively  set  before  us  in  purpose,  plan,  intention, 
aspiration,  ambition,  and,  if  we  should  climb  so  high,  in 
our  life  purpose.  Moreover,  the  nobler  and  finer  the 
character  and  life,  the  less  it  is  dominated  by  the  evil  to  be 
shunned,  and  the  more  by  the  good  to  which  it  aspires. 

This  great  truth  has  led  some  to  reject  all  negative 
and  repressive  means  of  training:  chief  of  these  is  the 
briUiant  Rousseau,  who  actually  declares  that  we  must 
never  lay  upon  the  child  any  command  whatsoever ;  and 
there  is  not  a  little  pedagogy  nowadays  that  follows  his 
erratic  lead.  There  is  little  danger  of  any  mother  or 
practical  teacher  swallowing  Rousseau's  absurd  paradox ; 
the  facts  are  too  stubbornly  against  it.  Rousseau  knew 
nothing  of  real  children,  having  shamelessly  shirked  his 
own  duties  in  this  regard,  and  we  need  not  concern  our- 
selves with  his  advice  on  this  point.  But  there  is  a  real 
danger  to-day  lest  our  enthusiasm  for  the  sacredness  and 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  NATIVE  TENDENCIES 


37 


beauty  of  child-life  and  child-nature  blind  us  to  the  im- 
perative need  for  a  strong  and  resolute  rein  upon  the  ex- 
cessive operation  of  impulse,  especially  in  early  childhood, 
before  the  child  has  any  real  will  or  wisdom  of  his  own. 

Leaving  out  of  the  question  as  of  comparatively  little 
importance  the  damage  to  breakable  things  within  reach 
of  the  child's  impulsive  movements,  and  even  the  per- 
sonal injury  he  is  apt  to  wreak  on  those  about  him,  the 
truth  remains  that  the  educator  must  protect  the  child 
from  himself  in  a  spiritual  sense ;  that  is,  the  harmonious 
and  ideal  perfection  of  his  nature  must  be  guarded  from 
the  damage  caused  by  excessive  development  of  particular 
tendencies.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  more  violent 
self-impulses,  such  as  obstinacy,  anger,  pugnacity,  violent 
seizure  of  the  property  of  others.  It  is  clear  that  un- 
bridled activity  of  these  impulses  will  tend  to  give  them 
injurious  predominance,  and  choke  the  gentler  impulses 
that  should  hold  them  in  check,  such  as  affection  and 
social  nature.  There  is  a  right  and  wrong  even  in  the 
affairs  of  the  little  child,  which  is  not  abolished  even  by 
the  child's  own  failure  fully  to  comprehend  them.  They 
are  to  be  revealed  to  him  partly  through  the  control  and 
discipline  and  even  punishment  exercised  by  his  elders 
upon  him. 

As  soon  as  the  child  is  bom,  its  native  tendencies  begin 
to  come  out  in  actions,  and  as  soon  as  action  begins,  the 
tendencies  begin  to  be  modified,  and  education  is  under 
way.  The  great  question  in  early  education  is.  What  are 
the  influences  that  affect  the  development  of  the  tend- 


38 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


encies,  and  how  do  they  work?  Every  time  an  im- 
pulse utters  itself  in  an  act,  if  we  can  beheve  psychology 
and  physiology,  a  trace  is  left  on  nerve  and  upon  soul :  if 
the  result  of  the  act  is  agreeable,  the  impulse  is  con- 
firmed and  the  act  likely  to  be  repeated ;  if  the  conse- 
quences are  unpleasant,  the  impulse  is  discouraged  and  the 
act  less  Ukely  to  be  repeated.  This  is  a  bald  and  crude 
statement  of  the  law  that  underHes  all  education  and 
regulates  all  teaching  and  training.  Clearly,  then,  the 
simplest  rule  of  education  is  to  strive  to  encourage  desir- 
able impulses  and  acts  and  discourage  undesirable  ones ; 
unfortunately,  the  law,  like  so  many  other  wise  generali- 
zations, leaves  us  with  the  real  task  still  on  our  hands,  to 
decide  which  are  desirable  impulses  and  how  we  can  en- 
courage them.  But  still  the  law  is  worth  something ;  it 
would  at  least  make  plain  the  folly  of  parents  laughing 
at  the  conceited  and  otherwise  obnoxious  pranks  of 
spoiled  children.  Punishment,  in  its  various  forms,  from 
gentle  reproof  to  the  infliction  of  severe  pain,  finds  its 
justification  in  the  necessity  of  inhibiting  undesirable 
acts  and  so  preventing  the  establishment  of  the  evil  in 
permanent  form. 

But  the  stimulation  or  inhibition  of  spontaneous  acts  of 
the  child  is  only  part  of  education ;  it  is  necessary  also  to 
reveal  to  the  child  conduct  and  manners  that  he  would 
not  be  able  to  evolve  from  his  own  nature ;  this  is  the 
work  of  example,  suggestion,  and  instruction.  These  all 
give  him  pictures  or  ideas  of  things  to  do ;  and  these  ideas, 
in  whatever  form  they  come,  appeal  to  his  natural  tend- 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  NATIVE  TENDENCIES 


39 


ency  of  imitation  or  suggestibility.  Of  course,  the  par- 
ent and  the  teacher  can  never  have  the  field  to  them- 
selves, for  the  child's  eager  mind  takes  in  ideas  from  every 
available  source,  at  home,  in  school,  on  the  street ;  from 
father  and  mother  and  teacher,  but  no  less  from  the  de- 
livery boy  and,  possibly  most  of  all,  from  the  other  chil- 
dren on  the  playground.  Hence  the  educator  must  again 
call  upon  the  above-mentioned  forces  of  stimulation  for 
the  good  and  inhibition  for  the  bad  as  they  appear  in  this 
crop  of  chance-sown  suggestions. 

These  are  then  the  three  fundamental  educative  pro- 
cesses, —  the  stimulation  of  good  acts,  the  weeding  out  of 
the  bad,  and  the  suggestion  of  new  desirable  forms.  The 
aim  of  perfection  is  to  do  all  this  with  all  \agilance,  realiz- 
ing that  the  child  is  being  educated  whenever  he  is  awake ; 
yet  with  such  skill  and  delicacy  and  regard  for  child-nature 
as  not  to  disturb  his  own  happy  activity  nor  hinder  the 
delicate  processes  of  nature;  and  finally,  to  awake  the 
child  as  early  as  possible  to  take  a  hand  in  the  work  him- 
self ;  for  he  will  never  be  really  educated  unless  he  edu- 
cates himself.  Yet  this  last,  indispensable  as  it  is,  is  one 
of  the  most  delicate  and  hazardous  tasks,  for  undue  haste 
is  likely  to  develop  a  prig,  and  too  much  delay  may  miss 
the  step  that  leads  to  moral  earnestness  and  autonomy  of 
the  will.  Nevertheless,  what  is  true  of  the  physician  is 
still  more  true  of  the  educator,  that  his  success  lies  in 
rendering  his  aid  no  longer  necessary. 

We  cannot  too  strongly  urge  upon  parents  and  teachers, 
especially  of  young  children,  the  indispensable  necessity  of 


40 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


promoting  the  child's  activity  by  furnishing  outlets  for  his 
impulses.    The  most  positive  results  in  development  take 
place  through  free  and  successful  activity  in  the  child 
himself.     Moreover,  the  tone  of  the  child's  life  is  warmed 
and  heightened  by  his  activity.    The  baby  not  yet  two 
years  old  is  quite  inspired  and  delighted  with  the  task  of 
pulling  off  his  unbuttoned  clothes :  he  can  easily  take  off 
his  shoes  and  stockings,  and  can  make  a  fair  attempt  at 
putting  them  on.    Hard  as  it  is  for  grown  people  to 
realize,  these  little  deeds  are  the  very  breath  of  life  to  the 
powers  and  budding  will  of  the  little  one :  success  in  them 
means  as  much  to  him  as  the  accomplishment  of  our  most 
cherished  aims  does  to  us.    They  are  the  top  of  his  am- 
bition, the  tasks  just  in  front  of  him,  which  he  is  burning 
to  conquer.    The  awkward  but  eager  motions  are  thrill- 
ing with  educative  nerve  currents,  and  are  the  true  exer- 
cises of  the  infant  intelligence  and  will.    Keep  your  hands 
off :  let  him  grapple  with  the  task  and  problem,  helping 
only   enough   to   avert  discouragement  and   surrender. 
Bend  your  grown-up  soul  to  rejoice  with  the  child's  little- 
great  endeavors  and  achievements,  and  so  be  his  guide  and 
inspirer  toward  ever  greater  things. 

It  is  fortunate  that  the  child's  natural  attitude  toward 
new  tasks  is  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  unsophisticated 
youth  who,  when  asked  if  he  could  play  the  violin,  replied 
that  he  ^lidn't  know,  had  never  tried,  but  guessed  he 
could.'  One  of  the  fine  arts  of  education  is  to  feed  this 
child-confidence  with  tasks  hard  enough  to  be  interest- 
ing and  progressive,  but  not  so  hard  as  to  cause  despair. 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  NATIVE  TENDENCIES 


41 


Let  the  little  one  struggle  a  bit  with  his  own  wraps ;  let 
him  climb  the  steps  with  only  a  safeguarding  touch  of 
the  parental  hand:  let  the  Uttle  girl  early  try  her  hand  at 
simple  household  tasks, —  while  she  still  possesses  a 
natural  enthusiasm  for  them  as  new  fields  to  conquer. 
That  is  a  wise  farmer-father  who  occasionally  puts  the 
reins  into  the  hands  of  his  seven-year-old  son  and  lets 
him  glow  with  the  sense  of  driving  the  great  horses,  — 
the  father  simply  standing  by,  ready  to  give  aid  if  needed. 

All  these  native  tendencies  arise  from  the  unconscious 
depths  of  the  child's  nature :  he  deserves  neither  praise  for 
the  good  nor  blame  for  what  we  may  consider  the  bad  in 
them.    He  is  sometimes  as  much  surprised  and  perplexed 
by  them  as  are  his  parents,  or  possibly  even  more  so,  for 
they  can  see  in  his  Uttle  tempests  of  passion  the  image  of 
their  own  childhood.    The  native  tendencies  spring  out  of 
unconsciousness,  unbidden,  inevitable,  and  for  the  time 
irresistible.    But  the  development  of  a  human  soul  is  a 
path  from  the  dim,  helpless,  confused  consciousness  of  the 
infant,  with  its  utter  lack  of  control  over  either  body  or 
mind,  upward  by  imperceptible  degrees,  through  ever 
growing  clearness  and  order  and  ever  increasing  self- 
control  and  direction,  to  the  ripe  wisdom  and  steady  m\\ 
of  full  manhood  or  womanhood.    This  long  road  is  beset 
with  perils  and  difficulties,  and  yet  also  marked  with  many 
guideposts  of  experience ;   no  individual  has  ever  found 
his  way  up  the  path  without  abundant  help  from  those 
who  have  gone  farther  on  it.    That  help  is  education,  in 


42 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


the  large  and  true  sense  of  the  word;  as  Emerson 
says :  — 

"Education  should  be  as  broad  as  man.  Whatever 
elements  are  in  him  it  should  foster  and  demonstrate.  If 
he  be  dexterous,  his  tuition  should  make  it  appear ;  if  he 
be  capable  of  dividing  men  by  the  trenchant  sword  of  his 
thought,  education  should  imsheath  and  sharpen  it ;  if  he 
is  one  to  cement  society  by  his  all-reconciling  affinities, 
oh  !  hasten  their  action  !  If  he  is  jovial,  if  he  is  mercurial, 
if  he  is  great-hearted,  a  cunning  artificer,  a  strong  com- 
mander, a  potent  ally,  ingenious,  useful,  elegant,  witty, 
prophet,  diviner  —  society  has  need  of  all  these."  ^ 

The  native  tendencies  are  blind,  confused,  contra- 
dictory; character  is  intelHgent,  orderly,  harmonious. 
Everywhere  the  development  of  character  is  the  increase 
of  understanding,  system,  adjustment,  among  impulses. 
The  human  soul,  even  in  its  early  stages  in  the  httle  child, 
is  so  complex,  and  the  process  of  its  development  so 
largely  hidden  from  our  keenest  discernment,  that  we  may 
well  shrink  from  the  attempt  to  discuss  or  describe  it; 
and  yet  for  our  purpose  the  attempt  must  be  made,  with 
full  sense  of  the  unavoidable  imperfection  of  the  result. 
In  the  succeeding  chapters  we  shall  offer  for  consideration 
a  very  plain  and  unpretentious  analysis  of  the  essentials 
of  character,  under  the  forms  of  Disposition,  Habits, 
Tastes,  the  Personal  Ideal,  the  Social  Ideal,  Strength  of 
Character,  and  finally  Religion.  But  no  one  can  draw  a 
hard  and  fast  hne  between  disposition  and  habits,  nor 

*  Emerson,  "  Education  "  (Houghton,  Mifflin  and  Co.),  p.  lo. 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  NATIVE  TENDENCIES 


43 


between  tastes  and  the  personal  ideal ;  nor  between  any 
two  of  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  elements.  And  the  last 
two  are  really  the  resultant  and  consummation  of  all. 
Nevertheless,  the  analysis  has  a  use  in  helping  us  to  sur- 
vey the  field  of  character.^ 

Again,  we  may  say  that  disposition,  habits,  and  tastes 
in  general  form  early,  and  with  Httle  activity  of  conscious- 
ness; but  we  must  not  forget  that  they  are  subject  to 
modification,  and  even  profound  change,  in  later  life. 
We  must  also  say  that  the  personal  ideal  develops  most 
powerfuUy  in  boyhood  and  youth,  and  the  social  ideal  in 
youth  and  early  manhood :  yet  both  of  these  run  back 
into  childhood  and  forward  into  mature  life.  A  certain 
phase  of  the  process  becomes  conspicuous  at  a  certain 
stage ;  but  it  began,  at  least  in  dim,  half-conscious  form, 
long  before.  And  long  after  it  has  taken  definite  form, 
it  still  requires  conservation  lest  it  decay  or  atrophy. 

We  need,  then,  to  write  alongside  every  page  that  even 
the  best  description  in  words  would  be  but  a  meager  hint 
of  this  most  complex  and  mysterious  process  in  the  uni- 
verse :  and,  above  all,  that  it  must  be  interpreted  in  the 
light  of  patient  and  loving  study  of  the  Hving  chHd. 

1  The  reader  will  be  interested  in  comparing  the  analysis  of  character 
here  given  with  those  of  other  writers  :  of  special  value  is  that  in  Scho- 
field's  "  Springs  of  Character,"  Chapters  VIII  and  IX,  and  the  analysis 
suggested  by  the  general  outline  of  President  Hyde's  exceUcnt  "  Practical 
Ethics." 


t;l 


CHAPTER  III 

Disposition 

The  deepest-lying  and  most  pervasive  part  of  character 
is  disposition :  it  accompanies  us  everywhere,  and  shows 
Itself  in  all  we  do.  It  is  the  attitude  of  the  soul  toward 
life,  the  way  in  which  we  accept  our  situation  and  our 
daily  experiences.  On  the  inner  side  it  gives  color  and 
tone  to  our  own  conscious  life :  on  the  outer  side  it  per- 
vades and  modifies  our  conduct  toward  others  and  our 
reactions  to  events.  A  good  disposition  is  indispensable 
to  good  character,  though  of  course  not  all  of  character ; 
without  it  one  cannot  hope  for  perfection ;  even  with  it 
one  may  fail  through  lack  of  higher  elements.  It  is  a 
sort  of  foundation  layer. 

Disposition  takes  form  so  early  that  no  one  can  say 
how  much  of  it  is  innate  or  hereditary,  and  how  much 
arises  through  experience  and  training ;  but  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  it  is  susceptible  to  the  influence  of 
early  environment.  Its  profound  importance  impels  the 
educator  to  a  diligent  search  for  the  truth  as  to  its  culti- 
vation. No  amount  of  pains  and  labor  could  be  too  high 
a  price  to  pay  for  the  secret  of  a  good  disposition  and  the 
means  of  assisting  nature  in  its  production. 

Good  disposition  shows  itself  in  two  forms  that  may  be 

44 


DISPOSITION 


45 


indicated  by  these  questions  concerning  the  possessor: 
First,  regarding  his  own  affairs  and  experiences  is  he 
cheerful,  hopeful,  reasonable,  contented?  Second,  to- 
ward others  is  he  kind,  helpful,  charitable,  in  judgment  ? 
Cheerfulness  and  hope  are  the  basis  of  a  happy  inner  life ; 
kindness  and  unselfishness  the  basis  of  happy  relations 
to  one's  fellows  and  of  a  useful  life. 

I.  Cheerfulness.  Disposition  may  be  called  the  climate 
of  the  soul :  the  varying  moods  of  the  day  and  hour  are 
the  weather,  and  their  general  average  or  tendency  con- 
stitutes the  disposition.  There  would  seem  to  be  as  much 
difference  between  dispositions  as  between  the  most  di- 
verse climates,  and  we  may  fairly  assume  that  the  inner 
life  of  one  man  may  be  as  different  from  that  of  another 
as  the  misty  climate  of  the  Grampian  Hills  is  from  the 
sunny  skies  of  Italy.  A  psychic  weather  observer  might 
compute  the  average  cloudiness  or  sunshine  of  various 
souls,  —  some  having  ninety  per  cent  clear  days  and 
others  not  ten. 

A  happy  disposition  is  the  more  important  because 
it  seems  so  largely  independent  of  circumstances:  the 
cheerful  man  is  happy  in  spite  of  troubles ;  the  best  good 
fortune  fails  to  relieve  the  habitual  gloom  of  the  melan- 
choly man.  Milton  might  have  been  thinking  of  dis- 
position when  he  wrote:  ''The  mind  is  its  own  place, 
And  of  itself  can  make  a  Hell  of  Heaven,  a  Heaven  of 
Hell." 

This  first  element  in  disposition,  the  inner  cheer  and 
sunshine  of  the  soul,  rarely  gets  its  due  in  our  esteem,  for 


y 


46 


THE    ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


the  very  reason  that  it  is  internal  and  eludes  perception 
from  without.  The  man  may  do  all  his  work  well,  may 
meet  his  obligations  in  business  and  social  life,  may  bear 
a  spotless  reputation,  and  even  perform  great  services, 
private  and  public,  and  yet  through  it  aU  carry  a  sad  or 
gloomy  consciousness ;  of  that  no  outsider  can  have  any 
full  realization,  nor  indeed  will  the  man  himself  usually 
understand  fully  what  he  is  losing,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  he  has  no  standard  by  which  to  judge  the  difference 
between  his  own  somber  spirit  and  the  sunny  atmosphere 

of  a  normal  life.^ 

Yet  all  the  time  this  inner  condition  that  affects  the 
man's  outer  performance  so  slightly  is  actually  making  or 
marring  the  worth  of  his  own  Hfe  to  him.  The  cheerful 
disposition  doubles  the  brightness  of  joys,  and  puts  the 
silver  lining  upon  the  clouds  of  sorrow ;  it  multiplies  the 
value  of  every  experience  and  makes  every  hour  of  life 
worth  living.  The  man  who  has  a  cheerful  soul  is  more 
fortunate  than  one  who  spends  the  summer  in  the  Adiron- 
dacks  and  the  winter  in  CaUf ornia :  he  carries  his  warmth 

and  glow  with  him. 

This  inner  ministry  is  the  chief  service  of  the  cheerful 
disposition,  but  it  is  not  all.  As  happiness,  from  infancy 
on,  flows  naturally  from  health,  so  it  is  certain  that  there 
is  a  reflex,  and  that  serenity  and  joy  are  positively 
hygienic  and   medicinal;    4augh   and  grow  fat'  is  not 

1  The  finest  treatment  of  this  subject  known  to  the  writer  is  in  a 
lecture,  as  yet  unpublished  by  President  William  Lowe  Bryan,  on  "The 
Education  of  the  Disposition." 


DISPOSITION 


47 


merely  a  jest,  for  the  merry  heart  is  good  for  digestion 
and  circulation  and  assimilation,  and  especially  for  those 
mediators  between  body  and  soul,  the  nerves.  The  old 
physiologists  were  nearer  the  truth  than  they  reaUzed 
when  they  identified  the  elements  of  disposition  with 
humors,  the  fluids  of  the  bodily  organism.  Good  humor 
cannot  be  put  into  a  measuring  glass,  but  it  has  a  positive 
beneficence  for  the  blood  and  is  nature's  best  remedy  for 
''bile"  and  spleen,  either  Hteral  or  figurative. 

Nor  is  this  all :  the  disposition  is,  it  is  true,  an  inner 
state  and  therefore  known  in  its  fullness  only  to  the  soul 
that  contains  it:  but  there  are  chinks  enough  in  the 
earthly  tabernacle  to  let  out  a  goodly  share  of  the  inner 
radiance,  for  the  cheer  and  enlightenment  of  others. 
That  is  a  beautiful  prayer  which  asks  for  the  light  of  God's 
countenance ;  it  is  mainly  fulfilled  as  things  generally  go, 
through  the  countenances  of  men  and  women.  A  man's 
value  to  society  is  by  no  means  all  subject  to  computation 
in  terms  of  labor  and  effort  and  pubHc  service,  good  as 
these  things  are  and  praiseworthy ;  some  of  the  highest 
service  leaves  no  visible  memorial,  but  consists  in  having 
appreciably  brightened  the  atmosphere  of  social  life  in 
the  home  and  store  and  street.  Of  such  a  man  the  homely 
proverb  says,  he  is  a  good  sight  for  sore  eyes  ! 

But  disposition,  being  the  basic  health  of  the  soul,  does 
yet  more:  it  clarifies  and  stimulates  all  activities.  It 
aids  clear  thought,  quick  perception,  prompt  and  resolute 
will,  skillful  and  efficient  work,— "Give  me  the  man  who 
sings  at  his  work,"  says  the  phHosopher  of  common  Hfe ; 


48 


THE  ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


for  not  only  is  it  good  for  him,  and  for  me,  who  must  work 
with  him,  but  it  is  good  for  the  work  and  the  output. 
And  how  can  one  refrain  from  turning  aside  here  to  touch 
the  other  side  of  the  question, —  '' Give  me  a  work  at 
which  my  heart  can  sing ! ''  may  well  be  the  prayer  of 
every  man;  it  will  be  well  when  our  economic  practice 
wakes  fully  to  the  truth  that  this  is  a  far  more  important 
question  in  real  effect  than  the  increase  of  the  product 
and  the  decrease  of  costs.  The  general  value  of  human 
life  can  never  be  very  high  so  long  as  vast  numbers  are 
bound  to  tasks  that  kill  joy  and  deaden  the  capacity 
for  it. 

To  miss  the  joy  is  to  miss  all,  says  Stevenson ;  there 
is  no  surer  way  to  miss  the  joy  than  to  miss  a  cheerful  dis- 
position, —  the  very  thing  that  redeemed  Stevenson's 
own  life  and  gave  him  the  victory  over  disease  and  pain. 
A  quiet  force  it  is,  often  hardly  recognized  as  a  potent 
element  in  life,  even  by  the  owner  himself;  not  to  be 
gauged  by  any  of  the  ordinary  rules  and  measures  of 
conduct  and  achievement ;  but  underlying  all  character, 
affecting  all  activity,  enhancing  all  conscious  existence, 
worthy,  therefore,  to  be  greatly  desired  and  ardently  pur- 
sued in  ourselves  and  in  our  children. 

It  must  be  clear  that  the  cheerfulness  we  have  been 
praising  is  not  mere  mirth,  certainly  not  levity  nor  reck- 
less abandon ;  Aristotle  was  right  in  declaring  virtue,  of 
every  sort,  to  be  a  mean  between  two  extremes,  and  our 
present  case  is  no  exception.  It  is  as  great  a  defect  to 
lack  seriousness  as  to  indulge  in  sadness;    cheerfulness 


DISPOSITION 


49 


paid  for  by  frivoUty  is  a  poor  bargain.    The  fool's  para- 
dise is  a  mirthful  place,  for  the  nonce ;  but  its  laughter  is 
like  the  crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot,  and  is  apt  to  die 
out  suddenly  and  leave  nothing  but  miserable  ashes. 
Tiresome  as  the  task  may  be  to  the  superficial  thinker, 
the  study  of  life  and  character,  as  of  other  deep  things, 
must  always  heed  aU  of  the  injunctions  upon  the  three 
successive  gateways  of   the  temple,  — "Be  bold,"  "Be 
very  bold,"  "Be  not  too  bold."    In  mechanics  it  takes  at 
least  two  forces,  and  those  opposing  forces,  to  hold  a  body 
in  equiHbrium ;   and  in  the  spiritual  world  no  truth  ever 
stands  by  itself  nor  on  one  principle,  but  must  be  pro- 
tected from  fallacy  on  both  sides.    So  our  exaltation  of 
cheerfulness  needs  to  be  taken  with  the  understanding 
that  it  is  not  the  only  virtue,  and  that  other  requisites  of 
character  will  be  found  to  push  somewhat  against  it,  not 
to  thrust  it  out  completely,  but  to  guard  it  from  excess, 
and  preserve  the  poise  and  balance  of  the  soul.    And 
what  is  here  said  of  this  particular  virtue  appUes  to  all ; 
we  shall  do  weU  to  hold  in  mind  throughout  the  wise  old 
Greek's  doctrine  of  virtue  as  the  happy  mean  between  the 

two  vicious  extremes. 

Hopefulness  is  very  close  kin  to  cheerfulness,  being  the 
bright  view  of  the  future  that  Hnks  confidence  in  destiny 
with  a  certain  assurance  in  one's  own  abiHty  to  aid  in  the 
desired  result.  Hopefulness  is  cheerfulness  with  forward 
look  and  stretched-out  hand.  All  that  is  said  in  praise  of 
cheerfulness  is  true  of  it,  and  it  has  an  added  practical 
value.    The  energetic  element  in  hope  probably  rises  m 


£ 


so 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


the  impulses  of  activity  and  of  self-assertion,  and  gives 
to  the  virtue  its  dynamic  quality. 

In  the  cultivation  of  every  virtue  the  first  step  is  the 
conservation  and  nurture  of  the  native  tendency;  the 
taproot  of  cheerfulness  of  disposition  is  the  natural  spring- 
ing joy  of  childhood ;  that  must  be  favored  and  guarded 
in  every  way.  The  capital  crime  of  early  training  is  the 
killing  of  happiness;  nothing  could  atone  for  that  loss. 
Education  has  always  talked  much  of  the  necessity 
of  sacrificing  the  present  to  a  greater  future  good;  but 
here  is  one  place  at  least  where  present  and  future  have 
the  same  interest.  The  joy  that  illuminates  the  days  and 
hours  of  childhood  also  lays  the  best  foundation  for 
strength  and  wisdom  and  health  to  serve  maturity  and 
old  age.  Let  us  make  the  most  of  these  harmonies  be- 
tween the  now  and  the  future ;  they  are  really  far  more 
fundamental  than  the  conflicts.  All  day  long  the  healthy 
child  plays  in  unalloyed  delight,  and  every  happy  moment 
is  laying  up  store  of  future  good.  Then  comes  an  im- 
pulse or  desire  that  is  dangerous  or  harmful,  and  parental 
foresight  interferes,  with  grief  and  tears  on  the  part  of  the 
child.  But  before  the  seconds  hand  has  ticked  once 
around  its  dial,  the  sky  has  cleared,  the  nursery  rings  with 
shouts  of  happy  laughter,  —  and  the  deeper  education  is 
again  at  work. 

Make  way,  then,  for  child  joy ;  let  the  house  and  gar- 
den, and  all  who  encompass  the  little  one,  conspire  and 
labor  to  brighten  every  moment,  for  every  bright  moment 
adds  fiber  to  the  tissue  of  happy  and  healthy  disposition. 


DISPOSITION 


SI 


Take  a  lesson  from  the  mother  cat  rolling  and  scuffling 
with  her  delighted  kittens:  and  then  see  how  far  the 
child,  even  of  a  year  old,  surpasses  the  lower  creatures  in 
his  rich  comprehension  and  exuberant  joy  in  play.  Even 
bodily  comfort  is  worth  working  for ;  let  pain  and  annoy- 
ance be  reduced  to  their  lowest  terms,  and  so  the  way  be 
left  free  for  higher  positive  pleasures. 

So  deep  are  the  roots  of  disposition  that  at  best  we 
begin  too  late,  and  should  seize  the  first  weeks  of  infancy 
for  the  starting  of  our  culture.  As  years  pass  and  the 
child  matures,  the  general  rule  is  stiU  the  same,  to  mul- 
tiply and  magnify  the  happiness  of  the  maturing  life.  If 
an  early  age  shows  success  by  the  manifestation  of  the 
desired  disposition,  the  educator  must  not  relax  his  vigi- 
lance, for  the  present  condition  carries  no  absolute  guar- 
antee for  the  future.  If  the  outcome  is  up  to  date  less 
satisfactory,  and  the  best  opportunities  are  felt  to  be 
behind  us,  we  must  still,  for  so  great  an  end,  labor  to  wrest 
a  measure  of  success  from  the  poorer  opportunities  yet  to 

come. 

And  now  for  the  other  side  of  the  shield,  —  which  we 
know  from  the  beginning  must  be  suryeved.  We  have 
been  very  bold  in  announcing  the  maxim,  ''Magnify  the 
joy  of  the  child" ;  nor  is  one  iota  of  that  to  be  abated. 
Yet  that  rule  alone  would  defeat  its  own  end,  both  for  the 
present  and  the  future,  and  result  in  spoiled  and  pampered 
children,  and  undiscipHned  and  world-weary  adults.  Yet 
more,  it  must  be  said  that  while  our  fathers,  or  at  least 
our  grandfathers,  erred  toward  harshness,  we  err  to-day 


52 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


toward  indulgence.    So  let  us  look  the  limitations  in  the 

face. 

And  first,  while  animals  live  chiefly  in  the  moment,  and 
by  the  moment,  human  life  always  exists  through  sum- 
mation and  consummation.  So  the  exuberant  joy  of 
the  moment  is  always  to  be  computed  in  an  average  with 
what  goes  before  and  what  follows.  Rousseau  fulmi- 
nates against  the  schoolmaster  who  sacrifices  the  child's 
natural  happiness  to  a  hypothetical  future  welfare ;  but  it 
is  no  better  to  jeopardize  the  rich  and  abundant  years  of 
manhood  to  the  unregulated  whims  of  child  impulse. 
Let  us  write,  then,  that  pleasures  which  injure  body  or 
mind,  which  sap  the  forces  of  digestion  or  of  intellect,  or 
vitiate  the  tastes,  are  no  part  of  our  duty  toward  the  joy 
of  childhood.  Two  things  are  clear :  first,  the  child  pays, 
and  pays  dearly,  for  these  indulgences.  The  coffee  that 
he  gets  by  crying  for  it  takes  heavy  toll  from  the  delicate 
stomach  and  nerves,  to  be  exacted  soon  and  late  in  in- 
digestion and  nervousness.  The  late  hours  in  which  the 
boy  or  girl  is  indulged  mark  the  cheek  with  chalk  where  it 
should  be  tinged  with  red  blood,  and  by  that  token  reveal 
the  deduction  from  vigor,  bodily  exhilaration,  and  mental 
power.  That  the  parent  pays,  too,  needs  no  proof ;  but 
we  will  not  distress  ourselves  over  that,  since  it  is  no  more 
than  justice. 

Moreover,  entertainment  soon  blunts  the  edge  of  en- 
joyment ;  the  secret  of  child  joy  is  not  in  being  amused, 
but  in  needing  no  amusement,  —  and  it  is  strange  how  the 
same  truth  fits  grown-up  life !    Even  a  child's  life  con- 


DISPOSITION 


S3 


sisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  he  hath,  nor  in 
the  multiplicity  of  his  means  of  amusement.  The  road 
to  life  is  not  through  being  amused,  but  in  amusing  one's 
self ;  not  in  being  diverted  or  entertained,  but  in  having 
something  to  do  that  is  worth  doing,  and  in  doing  it. 
The  whole  truth  is  found  in  graphic  form  in  ''The  Story 
of  a  Sand  Pile,"  or,  better  still,  in  a  real  sand  pile,  with 
real  children  playing  in  it.  Renunciation  and  abstinence 
will  be  recognized ;  not  for  their  own  sake,  nor  even  for  the 
added  zest  they  give  to  pleasure  when  permitted,  but 
because  they  are  an  integral  part  of  the  scheme  of  life, 
and  contribute  to  its  power  and  richness  in  manifold 
ways.  The  mother  recognizes  the  truth  when  she  puts 
a  toy  away  for  a  week,  so  that  the  child's  joy  in  it  shall 
be  made  as  good  as  new. 

If  the  world  were  all  playground  and  picnic,  cheer- 
fulness might  be  sufficiently  developed  by  stimulating 
and  cherishing  the  natural  joys  of  childhood.  But  the 
good  humor  that  works  only  when  all  goes  well  will 
not  serve  the  turn,  even  in  childhood.  A  more  robust 
cheerfulness  must  be  developed,  one  that  can  smile  or  at 
least  refuse  to  cry  under  the  test  of  pain,  loss,  misadven- 
ture, disappointment.  Opportimity  for  the  culture  of 
this  virtue  begins  early,  before  speech  or  reason  have  made 
much  progress;  the  Uttle  man  must  be  shown  how  to 
resist  tears  and  pouts,  and  to  pluck  up  cheer  when  his  small 
affairs,  great  to  him,  go  awry.  The  how  of  this  teaching 
is  hard  to  tell,  but  it  can  be  done ;  until  language  opens 
the  way  for  clearer  communication,  the  mother's  tones 


54 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


DISPOSITION 


55 


1 


and  manner  must  convey  the  proper  comfort  and  encour- 
agement, and  waken  the  spirit  of  endurance  and  resist- 
ance in  the  little  heart.  The  right  method,  as  usual,  lies 
in  an  invisible  line  of  action,  found  only  by  grace  of  tact 
and  sympathetic  understanding,  between  too  much  com- 
fort and  too  little  stimulus  on  the  one  hand,  which  is 
coddUng,  and  too  little  comfort  and  too  much  stimulus  on 
the  other  hand,  which  alienates  the  small  sufferer  and 
breaks  the  power  of  suggestion. 

As  intelligence  develops,  the  treatment  should  include 
the  fullest  practicable  enUghtenment  of  the  young  mind 
as  to  the  virtue  of  courage  and  good  cheer  under  tribula- 
tion, small  and  great.  Very  soon  will  the  child  take  him- 
self in  hand,  —  sometimes  with  rigor  enough  to  shame 
his  elders. 

2.  Kindness,  The  warmth  and  beauty  bestowed  on 
the  inner  life  by  the  cheerful  disposition  are  imparted  to 
the  outer  by  kindness.  Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  most 
beloved  of  our  heroes  by  the  power  of  his  universal  kind- 
ness ;  without  that  his  honesty,  his  wit  and  logic,  his  will 
of  flawless  steel,  and  even  his  incomparable  services  to 
the  Republic,  would  never  have  won  him  his  place  in 
our  hearts  and  his  power  over  our  ideals  and  Hves.  It  is 
no  accident  that  as  his  character  ripened  and  was  fully 
revealed,  "Honest  Abe"  became  ''Father  Abraham." 
How  deep  in  his  own  heart  this  quahty  was  rooted  is 
suggested  by  the  comfort  he  took,  late  in  hfe,  from  his 
sincere  conviction  that  throughout  he  ''had  plucked  a 
thorn  where  he  could,  and  had  planted  a  rose  wherever 


he  thought  a  rose  would  grow."  Macbeth  dehberately 
renounced  the  "milk  of  human  kindness,"  and  Hved  to 
find  his  outward  success  a  sham,  and  himself  poor  be- 
cause he  lacked  "what  old  age  should  have,  as  honor, 
love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends."  All  history  and  Hter- 
ature,  as  well  as  everyday  life,  put  this  quality  of  kind- 
ness into  the  catalogue  of  the  indispensable  virtues  of 
human  character. 

There  is  health  and  growth  in  kindness  of  disposition  as 
there  is  in  cheerfulness ;  human  Hfe  is  so  largely  social 
that  development  of  the  individual  depends  much  upon 
his  right  relation  to  his  fellows,  and  kindness  is  the  basic 
virtue  of  that  relation.  The  child  is  to  receive  most  of  his 
early  training  and  culture  in  unconscious  interchange 
with  those  about  him,  and  kindness  opens  up  the  channels 
for  the  healthy  operation  of  this  process.  Good  feeling 
toward  our  associates  favors  interest  and  confidence,  and 
these  encourage  the  spiritual  commerce  between  elder 
and  younger  that  is  so  large  a  part  of  education.  Thus 
the  importance  of  kindness  of  disposition  is  far  deeper  than 
the  mere  sweetness  and  charm  of  friendly  and  helpful 
association,  and  is  a  genuine  condition  of  growth  and 
cultivation.  It  is  indeed  the  essential  hygiene  of  social 
Hfe,  and  social  life  is  the  essential  condition  of  humanity ; 
so  without  the  spirit  of  kindness  true  human  nature,  with 
its  powers  of  intelligence  and  feehng,  would  never  have 
existed,  and  without  the  same  disposition  it  cannot  be 
preserved  and  enlarged. 

The  first  maxim  for  the  cultivation  of  the  kindly  dis- 


/ 


S6 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


DISPOSITION 


57 


position  is  similar  to  the  first  in  the  cultivation  of  cheer- 
fulness, —  make  way  for  the  natural  impulse  of  love  and 
affection,  so  that  it  may  well  up  freely  in  the  full  measure 
of  nature's  endowment.  Use  every  means  of  example 
and  suggestion  to  quicken  and  confirm  the  kindly  im- 
pulses that  spring  so  powerfully  and  so  abundantly  in  the 
normal  child.  One  of  the  most  powerful  conditions  that 
favor  the  growth  of  kindness  is  the  prevalence  of  cheer- 
fulness ;  thus  education  works  into  its  own  hands,  here, 
as  in  so  many  other  cases ;  all  that  is  wisely  done  to  culti- 
vate cheerfuhiess  smooths  the  way  for  kindliness  also. 

Avoid  occasions  of  strife  and  conflict,  either  between 
child  and  elders,  or  between  children  playing  together. 
Especially  in  the  first  two  or  three  years,  before  the  child 
can  comprehend  any  explanation  of  his  social  relations, 
must  every  care  be  used  in  so  ordering  his  material  and 
social  situation  as  to  favor  smoothness  and  contentment. 
This  is  the  golden  age  for  disposition,  and  in  its  favor  we 
must,  if  need  be,  sacrifice,  or  rather  postpone,  some  other 
forms  of  training;  the  truth  is,  there  is  as  yet  Httle 
danger  as  to  permanent  habits  or  ideals ;  if  we  can  con- 
serve the  basic  strata  of  disposition,  the  rest  can  be  built 
more  efficiently  and  economically  later.  (It  need  hardly 
be  repeated  here  that  bodily  health  and  development  are 
of  course  even  more  fundamental  than  disposition ;  dis- 
position being  the  first  psychic  element.) 

Not  that  the  mother  need  be  worried  by  the  little  tem- 
pers and  squabbles  of  children,  which  are  the  common  lot 
of  the  normal  flesh-and-blood  youngster;   only  let  the 


environment  and  regimen  tend  to  avoid  and  minimize 
these,  and  so  give  the  fullest  time  allowance  to  sunny  and 
loving  soul-weather ;  thus  will  the  traces  on  the  brain  be 
predominantly  for  kindUness  of  permanent  disposition. 

The  chief  positive  generator  of  disposition  m  general, 
and  particularly  of  kindness,  is  what  the  modern  psychol- 
ogist calls  suggestion,  which  is  largely  identical  with  the 
good  old  idea  of  example.  The  child  is  a  psychic  chame- 
leon (and  no  one  ever  fully  outgrows  the  nature),  and 
takes  his  tone  from  those  about  him ;  whatever  you  de- 
sire in  your  child,  have  that  in  yourself :  this  is  the  deep- 
est educational  principle,  and  a  wonderfully  beneficent 
one  to  the  educator  also,  for  it  spurs  him  to  new  moral 
achievement  for  the  sake  of  his  protege.  The  law  of 
example  is  the  scripture,  "Give  and  it  shall  be  given  unto 
you ;  full  measure,  shaken  down,  pressed  together,  run- 
ning over,"  or,  again,  m  adapted  phrase,  "Whatsoever 
ye  would  that  your  child  should  be  to  you,  be  ye  even 

so  unto  him." 

Yet  this  needs  immediate  interpretation :  the  old  say- 
ing has  it  that  "good  mothers  make  bad  daughters,"  and 
in  the  same  sense  it  is  true  that  kind  parents  may  make 
selfish  children ;  or  even  more  strikingly  true,  that  kind 
children  may  make  selfish  playmates.  The  mother  who 
lets  her  affection  overrule  her  better  wisdom,  her  sense  of 
justice,  her  knowledge  of  the  child's  real  duty  and  weHare 
may  indeed  be  responsible  for  the  child's  selfish  and  in- 
considerate disposition.  Especially  is  that  parent  peri- 
lously wrong  who,  out  of  a  false  softness  toward  her  own 


S8 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


child,  permits  the  child  to  impose  upon  playmates  and 
vent  its  petty  spleen  unpunished.  True  kindness  does 
not  always  smile,  but  finds  its  fit  expression  rather  in  sharp 
reproof  or  stern  command,  or  even  in  more  decided  dis- 
cipline. Do  not  doubt  the  truth,  O  Mother  or  Teacher, 
that  this  brief  necessary  sharpness  will  give  tone  and 
power  to  your  habitual  and  general  love  and  gentleness, 
and  so  the  two  seeming  opposites  combine  their  forces 
toward  the  longed-for  result. 

Disposition  and  Habit.  Disposition  always  lies  per- 
plexingly  close  to  habit,  and  indeed,  psychologically,  not 
only  disposition,  but  practically  all  the  elements  of  edu- 
cation and  character,  are  habit;  that  is,  they  consist  of 
fixed  ways  of  reacting  to  definite  stimuli.  Disposition, 
however,  runs  constantly  into  habit  in  the  narrower  sense 
in  which  we  use  the  term.  Cheerfulness  and  hopefulness, 
at  first  a  general  tone  and  tendency  of  the  mind,  em- 
body and  confirm  themselves  into  certain  definite  ways 
of  thinking  and  acting.  The  cheerful  man  gets  into  the 
way  of  'looking  on  the  bright  side,'  and  of  taking  de- 
liberate note  of  'how  much  worse  it  might  have  been.' 
Out  of  the  mass  of  contrasting  elements  in  any  situation 
he  gives  preference  in  his  attention  to  the  pleasant,  the 
encouraging,  the  desirable.  The  hopeful  disposition  leads 
to  the  habit  of  picking  out  and  emphasizing  the  more 
promising  facts  in  the  situation,  and,  what  is  even  more 
important,  out  of  several  possible  future  results,  fixing 
upon  the  most  desirable  one  that  reason  will  permit,  and 
so  opening  the  way  for  endeavor. 


DISPOSITION 


59 


The  embodiment  of  disposition  in  habits  is  seen  more 
clearly  in  the  case  of  kindliness.    As  faith  without  works 
is  dead,  so  kindness  without  its  expression  in  helpfulness 
is  a  sham.    The  drama  and  the  novel  both  powerfully 
stimulate  the  emotions  of  love  and  sympathy,  and  are 
both  credited  with  great  educative  power;    the  serious 
question  is  whether  the  emotion  which  is  thus  smothered 
within  the  breast  and  robbed  of  all  expression  in  conduct 
is  not  more  injurious  than  beneficial.    At  any  rate,  it  is  a 
f amiHar  fact  that  the  playgoer  who  has  been  snuffling  and 
wiping  his  eyes  over  the  melodramatic  woes  of  the  heroine 
has  no  difficulty  in  ignoring  the  real  misery  and  degrada- 
tion that  lie  about  him  on  his  way  home.    Education 
proper  cannot  afford  to  lose  the  power  of  outward  expres- 
sion of  all  the  inner  emotional  elements  it  seeks  to  cul- 
tivate. 

AU  this  points  out  the  further  path  of  training  after 
the  first  stretch  of  disposition  is  covered ;  the  educator 
encourages,  by  example,  and  now  also  by  precept  and 
explanation,  all  these  good  habits  that  grow  naturally 
upon  disposition.  He  watches  the  young  mind  in  its 
encounter  with  its  world,  and,  as  opportunity  offers,  he 
puts  in  help  and  counsel  to  throw  the  balance  in  favor  of 
the  right  action  and  so  the  right  habituation. 


CHAPTER  IV 


Habits 

In  one  sense  the  whole  process  of  development  consists 
of  the  formation  of  habits ;  for  knowledge  itself,  and  the 
powers  of  thought,  as  well  as  the  higher  elements  in  the 
will,  all  depend  upon  the  estabUshment  of  fixed  ways  of 
reacting  to  given  stimuli.  Consequently,  the  general  laws 
of  habituation  underHe  the  whole  of  education.  But  the 
term  habit  is  more  commonly  restricted  to  those  estab- 
lished reactions  that  act  with  little  or  no  participation  of 
consciousness,  or,  in  other  words,  mechanically  or  auto- 
matically. Such  habits  as  these  begin  to  form  very  early, 
and  constitute  a  kind  of  supporting  framework  for  the 
higher  elements  of  character. 

The  number  of  such  habits  is  unlimited,  and  their 
form  and  use  infinitely  varied.  Many  are  purely  me- 
chanical, as  the  movements  of  walking  and  running,  the 
little  arts  of  dressing,  washing,  combing  the  hair,  the  use 
of  spoon  and  knife  and  fork,  and  a  hundred  other  small 
accomplishments  that  must  be  mastered,  with  no  small 
effort  and  perseverance,  before  the  baby  can  claim  to  be 
boy  or  girl.  The  most  marvelous  of  these  mechanical 
habits  is  that  of  speech,  including  the  complex  processes 

60 


HABITS 


61 


required  for  the  articulation  of  single  words,  and  the  still 
more  intricate  task  of  uttering  phrases  and  sentences. 

Our  general  aim  leads  us  to  select  from  the  great  mass 
of  habits  a  very  few  that  have  peculiar  importance  in  re- 
lation to  character :  first,  obedience^  that  stands  by  itself 
as  the  pecuHar  acquired  virtue  of  childhood,  and  has  a 
unique  role  in  the  development  of  the  will;  then  three 
habits  that  should  penetrate  all  activity  and  later  devel- 
opment, industry^  thoughtfulnesSy  and  truthfulness, 

THE  FORMATION  OF  HABITS 

Because  habit  is  typical  of  all  educative  process  and 
exhibits  that  process  in  its  most  definite  form,  the  process 
of  habit-formation  is  worth  close  attention.  There  is  a 
prevalent  idea  that  the  mere  repetition  of  an  act  will  create 
a  habit ;  now  the  churn  dog  treads  the  churn  regularly  on 
a  certain  day  each  week,  but  so  far  from  forming  a  habit 
of  churnmg  on  that  day  he  forms  a  habit  of  ''hiding  out" 
whenever  he  gets  a  chance.  The  indolent  boy  goes  to 
school  every  day  in  the  week  until  Saturday,  but  he  shows 
no  tendency  to  form  such  a  habit  that  he  cannot  stay 
away  on  Saturday;  and  when  the  vacation  comes,  or 
when  his  school  days  are  over,  his  mind  rebounds  from 
school  and  all  its  works  like  a  rubber  ball  from  the  side  of 
the  house.  On  the  other  hand,  let  the  dog  be  practiced  in 
driving  the  cows  home  at  night,  and  he  may  develop  an 
effective  habit  that  will  impel  him  to  the  act  night  after 
night ;  and  let  the  boy  go  frequently  to  the  gymnasium  or 
swimming  pool,  and  a  habit  will  certainly  be  the  result. 


I  > 


62 


THE  ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


The  secret  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  a  habit  is  not 
the  mere  tendency  to  repeat  a  certain  act,  nor  is  it  estab- 
lished by  the  mere  repetition  of  the  act.  Habit  is  a  fixed 
tendency  to  react  or  respond  in  a  certain  way  to  a  given 
stimulus ;  and  the  formation  of  habit  always  involves  the 
two  elements,  the  stimulus  and  the  response  or  reaction. 
The  indolent  lad  goes  to  school  not  in  response  to  any 
stimulus  in  the  school  itself,  but  to  the  pressure  of  his 
father's  will ;  when  that  stimulus  is  absent,  the  reaction  as 
a  matter  of  course  does  not  occur.  The  churn  dog  has 
two  real  habits,  one  of  obe>'ing  his  master,  which  gets  him 
into  the  treadmill  upon  command ;  the  other,  of  trotting 
away  with  his  paws  when  he  feels  the  slats  slipping  from 
under  him.  When  these  two  habits  get  together,  they  do 
the  churning ;  if  Rover  slips  away  from  sight  and  sound 
of  his  master's  eye  and  voice,  the  necessary  first  stimulus 
is  lacking  and  somebody  besides  Rover  has  to  drudge  at 

the  chum. 

The  first  practical  inference  is  that  mere  external  and 
visible  acts  are  not  a  safe  criterion  as  to  the  formation  or 
existence  of  a  habit :  habit  is  a  psychic  thing,  and  its  real 
form  and  value  depend  on  the  two  psychic  elements,  the 
stimulus  and  the  reaction  that  responds  to  it.  Whenever 
the  organism  (the  boy,  for  example)  really  and  spontane- 
ously responds  to  a  certain  stimulus  with  a  certain  act, 
the  foundation  is  being  laid  for  a  real  habit.  The  boy 
hears  about  what  goes  on  at  the  gymnasium  and  has  a 
natural  tendency  to  respond  by  going ;  the  of tener  this 
natural  tendency  repeats  itself,  the  stronger  and  more 


i^ 


HABITS 


63 


certam  the  reaction  becomes,  —  always  understood  that 
other  factors  may  intervene,  as,  for  example,  some  more 
powerful  attraction  may  usurp  the  time  required  for  the 
gymnasium.  The  dog  has  a  natural  ancestral  impulse 
to  chase  cows,  and  when  he  has  responded  under  direc- 
tion from  his  master,  in  a  certain  way  for  a  sufficient 
number  of  times,  he  forms  the  habit  and  will  go  after  the 
cows  at  the  proper  time  without  special  command ;  the 
waning  light,  the  late  afternoon  activities,  and  other  signs 
are  sufficient  stimulus  to  provoke  the  response. 

The  second  practical  conclusion  is  the  necessity  for 
rooting  a  habit  in  a  natural  spontaneous  tendency ;  it 
will  never  reaUy  grow  in  anything  else,  and  the  educator 
must  seek  the  appropriate  root  with  all  diligence. 

Finally,  it  is  necessary  to  discern  clearly  what  response 
and  what  stimulus  we  wish  to  cement  into  habit,  iiiid 
labor  to  embrace  them  in  the  training  that  is  to  produce 
the  desired  result :  wc  must  find  a  way  of  appb^ng  the 
stimulus,  or  more  truly  arou.sing  the  native  impulse,  so  as 
to  produce  the  desired  reaction,  then  we  must  repeat  this 
process  with  proper  frequency  :iik1  persistence.  Let  us 
pass  on  to  consider  how  all  this  may  apply  to  the  parUc- 
ular  habits  we  arc  to  discuss. 

I.  Obedieftce,  In  obedience  the  stimulus  is  the  ex- 
pressed will  of  a  person  in  authority,  and  the  response  is 
the  performance  of  Uic  required  act.  The  will  and  its  ex- 
pression may  vary  almost  indefinitely,  from  the  strongest 
command  to  the  slightest  desire  couched  in  the  mildest 
suggestion  or  indicated  by  an  almost  imperceptible  sign. 


*■( 


m 


64 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF  CHARACTER 


HABITS 


6S 


|i! 


It  is  necessary  to  note  clearly  that  obedience  is  by  no 
means  general  in  its  scope,  but  that  it  is  confined  to 
certain  definite  authorities,  particularly  the  parents  and 
elder  relatives,  and  the  teacher.  The  habit  of  complying 
with  all  requests  or  orders  from  whatsoever  source  would, 
of  course,  be  far  from  a  virtue. 

In  these  days  it  is  peculiarly  necessary  to  understand 
that  obedience,  both  as  an  act  and  as  a  habit,  so  far  from 
being  in  any  way  derogatory  to  the  honor  of  a  human  being 
or  hostile  to  the  happy  freedom  of  childhood,  is  in  vital 
accord  with  both  of  these.  It  springs  from  the  soul  of  the 
child  as  naturally  as  do  self-respect  and  personality,  hav- 
ing its  roots  in  one  principal  and  several  secondary  im- 
pulses. The  principal  root  is,  of  course,  suggestibility, 
which  makes  the  child  tend  to  do  whatever  is  put  before 
him  to  be  done.  The  secondary  roots  are  in  the  impulses 
of  activity,  which  makes  him,  as  it  were,  hungry  for  things 
to  do,  and  grateful  to  whomsoever  will  help  him  fill  the 
void ;  in  love,  which  binds  him  to  those  particular  persons 
toward  whom  his  obedience  should  be  principally  trained ; 
and  both  last  and  least,  yet  indispensable,  in  fear,  which 
fills  up  gaps  in  the  other  forces,  and  holds  some  ground 
until  it  can  be  occupied  permanently  by  higher  elements. 

The  importance  of  obedience  in  the  evolution  of  the 
will,  and  therefore  of  character  in  the  fullest  sense,  is  im- 
mense. To  put  it  briefly,  obedience  is  the  regent  of  the 
future  independent  mil,  playing  a  large  part  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  immature  life  until  the  will  itself  can  be  formed 
and  fitted  to  rule.    Obedience  is  thus  the  virtue  par 


excellence  of  childhood,  and  the  child  who  is  not  trained  to 
a  high  degree  in  obedience  is  wronged  beyond  reparation 
because  crippled  for  anything  like  full  development  in 
mature  character.  The  little  child  has  yet  no  will  of  his 
own,  but  only  impulses,  —  numberless,  unorganized,  con- 
flicting with  each  other  and  with  all  the  conditions  sur- 
rounding the  child  in  the  actual  world.  There  is  only  one 
way  of  hope  and  safety,  in  the  overruling  power  of  mature 
wisdom  and  rational  control.  This  control  works  through 
discipline  (in  the  broad  and  genial  sense  of  the  term)  and 
embodies  its  first  result  in  obedience.  Mainly  through 
this  external  control  and  guidance  do  order  and  harmony 
enter  into  the  field  of  impulses,  transforming  them  gradu- 
ually  into  a  self-directing  will,  having  unity  within  itself 
and  acting  in  enlightened  accord  with  the  laws  of  the  outer 

world. 

A  profound  analogy  exists,  indeed,  between  the  subor- 
dination of  the  child's  caprice  and  immaturity  to  the  en- 
hghtened  and  rational  will  of  his  elders,  and  that  higher 
subordination  of  the  impulses  of  the  mature  will  to  prin- 
ciples and  ideals  which  constitutes  the  full  perfection  of 
character.  Both  are  in  a  sense  subordination  to  an  ex- 
ternal authority:  the  imseen  monitor  whose  voice  Soc- 
rates obeyed  so  implicitly  was  felt  as  coming  from  with- 
out his  own  personal  spirit ;  the  heroes  and  saints  of  all 
times  have  been  persuaded  of  the  existence  and  power  of 
an  authority  beyond  themselves ;  they  have  all  held,  in 
varying  forms,  the  conviction  of  Jesus,  "The  Father,  who 
dwelleth  in  me,  he  doeth  the  works."    So  obedience  in  the 


66 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


child  is  an  apprenticeship,  under  simple  and  concrete 
terms,  for  the  full  mastership  of  will  and  the  perfect  reali- 
zation of  human  personaUty.  The  child's  will  looks  for 
guidance  to  parent  and  elders,  having  confidence  in  the 
lightness  of  their  decisions ;  but  by  imperceptible  degrees 
his  allegiance  to  these  persons  because  they  are  right  is 
transformed  into  allegiance  to  the  right  itself :  and  this  is 
autonomy  of  the  will  and  human  personality. 

The  army  is  a  sort  of  working  model  to  illustrate  the 
virtue  and  evolution  of  obedience.    The  young   recruit 
obeys  the  whole  hierarchy  of  officers,  from  corporal  up  to 
commander.     After  he  has  won  some  skill  and  practice  in 
obeying,  if  he  is  an  apt  pupil  at  that,  he  may  be  raised  one 
step,  and  given  rule  over  a  handful  of  men,  hterally  "a 
corporal's  guard"  for  a  limited  and  special  occasion.     So 
upward  he  goes,  his  progress  in  command  always  depend- 
ing upon  his  perfection  in  obedience.    Moreover,  miUtary 
life  also  gives  us  the  significant  picture  of  grown  men 
finding  so  much  honor  and  deUght  in  obedience  that  they 
go  gladly  to  death  in  the  service  of  a  Caesar  or  Napoleon, 
knowing  no  higher  law  or  more  excellent  destiny  than  to 
follow  his  fortunes  and  execute  his  commands.    Nor  are 
they  such  men  as  could  be  suspected  of  weakness,  pusil- 
lanimity, lack  of  spirit  or  energy.     So  httle  does  obedience 
mean  derogation  of  strength  or  dignity  even  among  men. 
To  come  nearer  home,  the  child  himself  rejoices  in  the 
hand  of  a  master,  if  only  the  hand  be  just,  wise,  and 
resolute.     Who  has  not  overheard  school  children  passing 
familiar  verdict  upon  this  teacher  and  that,  deriding  weak- 


HABITS 


67 


ness  and  indulgence,  and  glorying  in  the  discipline,  in- 
convenient though  it  was  to  their  tricks  and  mischief, 
that  abolished  trifling  and  would  brook  no  insubordina- 
tion. 

As  to  the  cultivation  of  obedience,  no  one  who  has  ob- 
served children's  relations  to  parents  and  teachers  can  be 
in  doubt  as  to  the  chief  means  to  success  :  one  parent  may 
request,  entreat,  command,  threaten,  with  scant  effect 
and  no  genuine  success ;  another  needs  only  to  speak  or, 
like  the  King  of  the  Gods,  to  nod,  and  it  is  done.  He 
who  would  be  obeyed  must  be  worthy  of  commanding ; 
then  he  will  not  often  need  to  speak  twice.  Long  before 
the  child  would  understand  the  phrase,  he  knows  whether 
his  mother  means  what  she  says  or  not.  Command  is  an 
influence  of  one  wiU  upon  another,  and  it  operates  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  sort  of  mechanical  law  of  superior  force ; 
not,  be  it  quickly  added,  mechanical  force,  but  psychic, 
volitional,  spiritual.  To  secure  obedience,  as  act  and 
habit,  let  the  educator  seek  to  enrich  his  own  spirit  and 
imbue  his  rule  with  these  three :  the  fight  of  reason,  in 
not  requiring  aught  but  what  is  just  and  sensible;  the 
warmth  of  affection,  in  always  seeking  both  the  welfare 
and  the  happiness  of  the  child ;  and  the  power  of  deter- 
mination, in  seeing  through  to  the  end  what  he  has 
thoughtfully  and  kindly  undertaken.  Above  aU  things, 
do  not  blame  the  child  for  disobedience;  punishment 
you  may  have  to  resort  to,  but  the  real  responsibiUty 
rests  upon  the  educator,  and  he  should  search  in  his  own 
spirit  and  conduct  for  the  cause  of  failure. 


mil 


68 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


Very  early,  as  soon  as  the  child  begins  to  understand 
words,  a  beginning  can  be  made  in  simple  directions  and 
commands:  *' Bring  it  to  Mother,"  "Pick  up  the  dolly," 
"Put  it  on  the  table,"  and  the  like,  break  the  path  for  the 
fuller  operation  of  suggestibility,  while,  by  the  way,  they 
also  stimulate  the  inteUectual  processes  in  general  and  so 
have  an  additional  justification  in  the  training  of  the 
period.  It  is  delightful  and  instructive  to  notice  with 
how  much  pleasure  the  child  exercises  his  new  powers  of 
comprehension  and  activity ;  at  the  sound  of  the  words  of 
request  his  face  is  fHled  with  eager  effort  to  grasp  the 
meaning,  and  when  the  idea  dawns  he  runs  away  gladly 
to  carry  it  out  in  act.  Very  early,  also,  he  may  learn  the 
meaning  of  No,  and  have  some  training  in  submission  to 
its  authority.  This  brings  us  to  two  of  the  most  useful 
practical  maxims  in  the  cultivation  of  obedience. 

First,  and  most  familiar,  and  yet  far  from  properly 
recognized,  is  the  principle  of  the  active  and  positive.  Do 
this  jumps  with  the  very  nature  of  the  child ;  Don't  do 
that  contradicts  child-nature,  and  tends  to  countermand 
itself.  The  positive  command  enlists  the  mighty  impulse 
of  activity  on  the  side  of  obedience ;  the  prohibition  sets 
that  impulse  at  war  with  obedience.  Certainly  prohibi- 
tion must  have  a  place  in  all  discipline,  and  the  child  must 
learn  the  force  of  No;  but  right  discipHne  has  its  main 
current  and  tenor  in  doing,  not  in  refraining ;  the  educa- 
tor-authority is  the  guide  and  inspirer  of  the  child's  active 
life,  making  that  hfe  richer,  more  interesting,  more  valu- 
able, to  the  child ;  and  only  as  authority  is  thus  the  rec- 


HABITS 


69 


ognized  benefactor  will  true  obedience,  as  act  and  as 
habit,  result.  The  true  Holy  Spirit  of  Guidance  is  always 
a  paraclete,  as  the  Gospel  has  it,  —  one  who  goes  on  in 
advance  and  calls  upon  the  disciple  to  foUow  and  emulate. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  school  has  been  a  great 
sinner  through  its  negative  morality;  the  good  boy  or 
girl  in  school  is  too  often  the  one  who  does  not  do  wrong,  — 
perfect  deportment  is  too  often  a  synonym  for  mere  pas- 
sivity, such  as  might  be  exemplified  by  a  jellyfish.  The 
essence  of  schoolroom  order  has  been  all  don'ts:  don't 
whisper,  don't  make  a  noise,  don't  leave  your  seat,  don't 
disturb  or  annoy  your  neighbor,  and  so  on  ad  nauseam. 
For  all  this,  as  for  everything  else  in  the  world,  there  have 
been  sufficient  causes,  but  these  do  not  make  out  a  valid 
excuse.  While  pedagogy,  both  in  theory  and  practice,  has 
been  backward,  the  prophets  have  long  been  declaring  the 
truth :  any  teacher  may  get  both  Hght  and  inspiration 
from  Emerson's  "Education,"  Dewey's  "School  and 
Society,"  and  Scott's  "  Social  Education,"  to  name  only 
three  out  of  many  excellent  sources. 

There  is  unfortunately  no  reason  to  suppose  that  home 
discipline  is  much  better :  mothers  and  fathers  also  tend 
to  mix  far  too  many  donHs  in  their  government,  until 
chUdren  come  to  feel  that  their  parents  are  the  natural 
enemies  of  their  activities.  This  is  no  plea  for  indulgence 
or  slackness :  on  the  contrary,  as  things  are,  discipline 
often  faUs  into  ruin,  because  a  swarm  of  petty  don'ts 
squander  without  effect  the  force  that  should  go  into  one 
uncompromising  No;  authority  has  spent  itself  in  vain 


ii 


70 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


on  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and  has  no  power  to 
command  over  the  greater  things. 

A  wise  old  book  on  education  tells  the  teacher  and 
parent  to  avoid  square  issues;   the  square  issue  between 
parent  and  child  is  worse  than  the  strait  between  Scylla 
and  Charybdis :  on  the  one  side  is  obstinacy,  resistance, 
rebeUion,    resentment,  bitterness,  the  darkening  of  life  for 
an  hour  or  a  day  or  sometimes  for  a  tragically  longer 
time.     On  the  other  is  surrender  and  the  loss  of  prestige 
and  control.    The  worst  strategy  is  to  despise  the  strength 
of  one's  opponent,  and  it  is  poor  pedagogy  to  minimize 
the  difficulty  of  serious  tasks ;  the  happy  solution  of  the 
problems  of  conflict  of  will  between  parent  and  child  is 
found  only  ''by  prayer  and  fasting"  figuratively  speak- 
ing :  that  is,  each  individual  must  solve  his  own  particular 
problem,  and   will  need   to  bring   to  all   his  best  wis- 
dom, tact,  and  resolution.     Some  things  may  be  said  in 
general :   first,  of  course,  comes  the  absolute  justice  and 
reasonableness  of  the  requirement  made  by  the  parent: 
the  old-fashioned  father  who  declared,  not  seldom  with 
much  warmth,  that  his  will  was  law,  was  on  the  wrong 
tack,  even  if  his  will  happened  to  be  right  in  the  particular 
point.     The  child  must  obey  the  parent's  will,  even  when 
he  cannot  understand  the  reason,  still  because  it  is  right; 
and  as  soon  as  the  parent's  will  ceases  to  be  right,  it 
loses  its  authority  in  abstract  justice,  and  will  lose  it  in 
the  eyes  of  the  child.     Be  very  sure  you  are  right  before 
you  go  ahead ;  and  if  you  find  out  that  you  are  wrong, 
retract  and  withdraw  from  the  untenable  position ;  hap- 


HABITS 


71 


piness,  dignity,  authority,  obedience,  will  all  be  enhanced 
in  the  long  run. 

The  great  positive  means  to  obedience  is  authority; 
trite  as  this  may  seem,  it  needs  emphasis.  We  have 
spoken  of  the  suggestibiHty  of  the  child,  which  leads  him 
to  perform  any  act  that  is  presented  to  his  mind,  whether 
as  an  injunction  or  as  a  prohibition ;  but  fortunately  that 
is  not  all  of  suggestibiHty,  for  as  soon  as  the  child  can 
comprehend  the  difference  between  do  this  and  donH  do 
that,  he  has  a  tendency  to  acquiesce ;  and  as  his  training 
proceeds,  this  tendency  to  acquiesce  is  reenforced  by  dis- 
cipline and  experience,  by  rewards  and  punishments,  and 
becomes  more  and  more  decisive.  There  are  certainly 
many  occasions  when  a  counter-impulse  overcomes  the 
obeying  impulse ;  but  one  of  the  most  important  things 
about  impulses  is  the  fact  that  an  impulse  is  only  a  tend- 
ency, and  its  being  overcome  by  another  tendency  does 
not  aboHsh  its  existence  and  value.  Indeed,  there  is  in 
the  child  a  tendency  diametrically  opposed  to  the  obeying 
impulse;  namely,  the  self-assertive  or  "contrary"  im- 
pulse, that  makes  it  incline  to  do  just  what  it  is  told  not 
to  do,  —  although  this  impulse  is  more  characteristic  of 
some  adults  than  of  children.  But,  nevertheless,  the 
obeying  instinct  is  there,  and  the  appeal  to  it  is  through 
clear,  strong,  decided  command  or  prohibition,  backed  by 
vigorous  action  when  need  is. 

The  child  is  naturally  responsive  to  the  tones,  manner, 
and  attitude  of  authority,  and  the  natural  instinct  should 
be  early  developed  into  habit,  and  so  rendered  permanent. 


Mi 


72  THE    ESSENTIALS  OF   CHARACTER 

A  baby  less  than  a  year  and  a  half  old  feels  the  difference 
between  the  voice  of  decision  and  that  of  irresolution, 
and  acts  accordingly.    No  wonder,  then,  that  the  older 
child  has  formed  a  fixed  habit  of  obedience  or  disregard 
for  father  or  mother.    Nor  is  the  child  slow  to  seize  an 
opportunity  to  put  himself  into  the  place  of  authority : 
sometimes  the  parent  might  well  take  lessons  in  the  voice 
and  manner  of  command  from  the  child  who  has  usurped 
the  throne.    The  impulses  of  self-assertion  are  always 
ready  to  thrust  themselves  into  the  gap,  and  when  they 
do  rise  in  revolt,  being,  like  all  other  child-impulses,  violent 
and  unmediated,  an  intolerable  despotism  results.    Then 
caprice  and  whim  take  command  not  merely  of  the  child 
and  the  household,  but  also  of  his  development;    the 
domestic  turmoil  might  be  endured,  but  the  injury  to  the 
growing  character  is  beyond  repair  or  indemnity. 

No  study  of  obedience  would  be  complete  without  a 
consideration  of  the  place  of  fear.    As  we  have  already 
suggested,  there  is  a  sort  of  hierarchy  of  fears,  beginning 
with  the  lowest  form  of  bUnd,  instinctive,  panic  fear, 
which  has  so  Uttle  use  in  human  development,  and  run- 
ning through  aU  degrees  of  greater  and  greater  enlighten- 
ment and  rationality,  to  such  fear  as,  for  example,  Inger- 
soU  had  in  mind  when  he  said  that  Lincoln  feared  nothing 
except  doing  wrong ;    or  as  is  implied  in  Shakespeare's 
lines,  "I  dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man ;  who  dares 
do  r^ore  is  none."    Panic  fear,  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
scale,  belongs  to  the  subhuman  stage  of  development, 
and  is  to  be  eliminated  from  the  growing  human  soul  with 


HABITS 


73 


jT 


I 


all  possible  speed  and  perfection ;  it  is  an  almost  unmiti- 
gated evil,  checking  healthy  activity,  and  blocking  the 
currents  of  genial  and  wholesome  Hfe  and  growth;  be- 
sides being  m  itself  one  of  the  most  painful  experiences 
known  to  our  consciousness. 

Almost  as  bad  is  the  crude  fear  of  pain  or  punishment : 

like  instinctive  panic  fear,  it  also  depresses  all  the  natural 

processes  of  life  and  therefore  of  growth,  and  has  no  Hght 

or  leading  in  it.    The  child  who  acts  or  refrains  purely 

from  fear  of  punishment  may  thereby  escape  danger  or 

avoid  doing  damage,  but  he  makes  no  progress  in  his  own 

moral  nature.    The  punishment  he  fears  is  external  to 

his  own  self,  has  no  real  hold  on  him  except  as  it  threatens 

to  fall  upon  him ;  and  when  the  actual  imminence  of  the 

penalty  passes  over,  the  will  of  the  child  springs  back  to 

the  forbidden  act.     Yet  such  fear  must  probably  be  used 

in  most  or  all  cases  in  early  childhood,  to  save  the  yet 

irrational  and  imcomprehending  child  from  doing  injury  to 

himself  and  to  his  surroundings,  animate  and  inanimate. 

The  next  step  above  mere  punishment,  or  the  fear  of  it,  is 

the  dread  of  the  disapproval  and  rebuke  of  the  parent ; 

this,  it  will  be  seen,  involves  much  besides  mere  fear,  for  it 

is  based  upon  love  and  respect.    The  third  step  is  the 

fear  of  those  consequences  of  the  act  that  make  it  wrong 

in  the  eyes  of  the  parent ;  but  this  has  quite  passed  the 

Hmits  of  mere  obedience  and  has  risen  to  the  stage  of 

rational  self -direction. 

Fear,  then,  is  to  be  gradually  transformed  into  caution, 
prudence,  and,  best  of  all,  conscience.    The  process  is 


74 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


through  enlightenment  and  awakening ;  in  place  of  mere 
fear  must  come  the  perception  of  the  danger  or  injury 
against  which  the  fear  was  a  sort  of  bhnd  sentinel.  In- 
stead of  the  primitive  selfishness  in  fear  must  arise  a 
feeling  for  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  parent  or  others  in 
authority,  and  still  higher,  a  sense  of  one's  own  situation 
and  responsibility  as  a  member  of  a  community,  large  or 
small. 

When  all  has  been  said  in  deprecation  of  rule  by  fear, 
one  is  driven  to  the  opinion  that  our  times,  and  particu- 
larly our  own  country,  are  in  far  less  danger  of  too  much 
fear  than  they  are  of  too  Httle  respect ;  in  the  older  type 
of  discipline  the  child  was  likely  to  be  repressed  and 
dwarfed ;  now  he  is  more  apt  to  grow  up  to  insubordina- 
tion, both  at  home  and  toward  the  laws  of  the  land. 
Reverence,  which  Goethe  makes  the  very  soul  of  training, 
is  hardly  to  be  mentioned. 

2.  Industry.  Two  factors  multiplied  together  give  the 
measure  of  efficiency :  ability  or  skill,  and  industry ;  and 
of  these  industry  is  the  greater,  first,  because  it  is  more 
attainable  to  all,  and  second,  because  it  not  only  multiplies 
skill  to  make  efficiency,  but  it  is  an  indispensable  factor 
in  the  creation  of  skill ;  so  industry  enters  twice  into  the 
calculation.  Unfortunately,  industry  and  its  product,  effi- 
ciency, have  in  this  commercial  age  been  elevated  some- 
what above  their  own  place,  dignified  as  that  is.  We 
have  set  up  an  idol  of  efficiency,  with  industry  shining  in 
reflected  splendor,  all  to  the  neglect  of  some  higher  things, 
as,  for  example,  real  happiness  and  good  conscience.     So 


HABITS 


75 


we  may  spare  further  glorification  of  industry,  and  pass 
to  some  of  its  essential  elements  and  its  genesis  as  a  habit. 
The  restless  activity  of  the  child  is  at  first,  like  other 
organic  beginnings,  without  form  and  void.  It  has  no  pur- 
pose nor  direction ;  its  immediate  external  effects  are  apt 
to  be  quite  as  much  injurious  as  beneficial.  It  is  that  en- 
ergy without  direction  which,  as  Emerson  says,  is  terrible. 
True,  even  child-nature  begins  early  to  provide  some  di- 
rection, for  the  child  manifests  marked  preferences  for 
some  acts  and  occupations :  these  are  the  native  or  spon- 
taneous interests.  In  the  channels  of  these  interests  the 
activity  of  the  child  flows  most  freely  and  abundantly. 
But  the  native  interests  are  far  from  being  in  full  harmony 
with  the  outer  world ;  many  of  them  have  their  natural 
results  in  broken  china  and  defaced  wall  paper,  and  must 
be  inhibited  or  modified.  Besides,  they  do  not  run  of 
their  own  course  into  the  occupations  of  the  grown  man  or 
woman.  Now  the  training  of  these  natural  activities  and 
interests  into  a  form  that  works  into  mature  life  and  its 
duties,  is  the  problem  of  the  cultivation  of  the  habit  of 

industry. 

First  is  the  opening  up  of  sufficient  channels  to  allow 
the  free  flow  of  the  natural  energy,  so  that  the  flow  may 
not  be  discouraged  or  checked,  but  may  flourish  and  in- 
crease with  the  increase  in  years  and  powers.  As  we  have 
seen  in  considering  the  impulse  of  activity,  the  organic 
health  and  development  of  the  child  demands  much  free 
movement :  and  especially  does  the  maintenance  of  his 
output  of  energy,  which  so  largely  fixes  the  limit  of  his 


76 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


HABITS 


77 


> 


later  efficiency,  depend  upon  the  largest  scope  and  en- 
couragement of  the  child's  abundant  spring  of  activity ; 
for  the  outgoing  currents  of  motor  acti\ity  send  back 
stimulus  and  nurture  to  his  organic  life.  Adult  human 
beings  can  be  computed  by  a  sort  of  indicated  horse  power, 
like  engines  or  turbine  wheels ;  the  training  of  the  child 
should  nurture  and  increase  this  potential  energy  for 
manhood  or  womanhood. 

Too  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  educative  quality  of 
toys  and  plays ;  the  plaything  that  gives  the  child  some- 
thing to  make  or  do  has  the  beauty  of  gratif>dng  the 
child's  love  of  action  and  construction,  and  at  the  same 
time  exercising  a  subtle  yet  considerable  influence  on  his 
development  into  the  habit  of  activity  and  industry.^ 
As  an  example  of  the  wrong  method  we  recall  a  father  who 
brought  home  for  his  ten-year-old  son  a  marvelous  play 
fortress,  made  in  a  score  of  parts  to  be  put  together,  not 
without  pains  and  thought,  to  make  the  complete  model 
with  its  walls  and  bastions,  cannons  and  sentries,  build- 
ings and  flagpoles.     The  boy  was  quite  old  enough  to 
master  the  task,  would  have  been  enchanted  with  the 
doing  of  it,  and,  moreover,  greatly  needed  the  kind  of 
training  it  would  have  given,  and  yet  the  father  spent  a 
whole  hour  after  the  boy's  bedtime  setting  up  the  model, 
so  that  the  boy  might  see  it  all  complete  the  next  day ; 
so  far  as  I  know,  the  boy  never  set  it  up  himself  at  all,  — 
for  fear  he  should  break  it,  forsooth. 

»  See  Paulsen's  charaiing  and  illuminating  essay  "  Village  and  Village 
School,"  in  the  Educational  Review,   December,  1906,  especially  pp. 

449-450- 


The  harmony  between  the  child's  nature  and  the  needs 
of  his  development  is  manifested  in  his  love  for  toys  and 
plays  that  set  him  to  work ;  blocks,  tops,  marbles,  puzzles, 
balls  of  all  kinds,  hoops,  skates,  and  so  on  ad  libitum,  all 
set  tasks  upon  which  the  youngster  may  whet  his  energy 
and  persistence.  The  best  toy  is  the  one  that  will  get 
the  most  work  out  of  the  child ;  the  poorest,  the  one  on 
which  some  one  else  has  done  all  the  work  in  advance. 
The  German  fortress  was  bad  enough  to  begin  with,  for 
the  lad  might  better  have  made  most  of  the  parts  himself ; 
the  father  robbed  it  of  its  remaining  value  and  left  it  only 
the  power  to  stimulate  idle  curiosity  and  militarism. 

Next  comes  the  direction  of  this  energy:  while  the 
natural  interests  of  the  child  do  not  fit  his  environment 
nor  his  prospective  occupation  exactly,  yet  education 
must  rely  upon  them  to  vitalize  whatever  direction  it 
wishes  to  give  to  activity.  We  dare  not  crush  nor  choke 
these  interests,  for  that  would  destroy  or  diminish  the 
potential  energy;  but  we  must— -and  fortunately  we 
can  —  find  among  the  native  interests  those  that  may  be 
modified  or  developed  into  adult  activities.  Sometimes 
a  child  comes  into  the  world  cleariy  marked  for  some 
particular  work,  —  he  is  from  the  first  a  musician,  or  an 
engineer,  or  a  trader ;  but  far  of tener  his  interests  are  so 
manifold  and  so  mutable  that  no  one  of  them  stands  out 
above  the  rest.  But  really  in  either  case  the  essential  basis 
will  be  found  for  the  development  of  healthy  and  useful 
activities.  The  fact  is  that  the  bare  impulse  of  the  infant 
to  be  moving,  changes  at  a  tender  age  to  an  impulse  to  be 


78 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


HABITS 


79 


doing  something ;  and  soon  the  child  develops  a  marked 
love  of  making  his  impress  upon  his  environment,  of  con- 
structing something,  or  changing  things  in  some  way  that 

suits  his  fancy. 

The  great  resource  of  training  at  this  point  is  another  of 
the  native  tendencies,  that  of  suggestibility,  by  which  the 
example  and  precept  of  the  elder  may  provide  definite 
forms  for  the  child's  activity :  he  will  do  with  dehght  what 
he  is  shown  or  what  he  is  told.  Indeed,  he  is  constantly 
on  the  lookout  for  things  to  do,  and  the  mere  sight  of 
sweeping  or  hammering  or  writing  sets  off  his  impulse  to 
attempt  the  same,  long  before  his  untrained  hand  has 
power  to  perfect  the  trick,  or  his  limited  intelligence  can 
grasp  the  purpose  and  the  method.  So  the  selection  and 
direction  of  activities  is  not  so  hard  a  task  as  it  might  be. 
It  does  call,  however,  for  far  more  patient  and  extensive 
observation  and  study  of  child-activity  than  the  adult 
world  has  yet  performed ;  and  this  task  is  largely  in  the 
hands  of  the  parent.  The  secret  is  to  find  the  sort  of 
things  that  the  child  does  naturally  and  easily,  and  work 
through  them  to  the  desired  ends. 

As  soon  as  we  begin  to  select  certain  of  the  child^s  in- 
terests and  try  to  favor  them  above  others,  we  meet  the 
problem  of  concentration  and  endurance :  the  child  must 
learn  to  overcome  obstacles  instead  of  giving  way  to  them 
or  merely  being  exasperated  by  them ;  and  he  must  begin 
to  increase  his  power  to  stick  to  the  same  task  even  after 
the  charm  of  novelty  is  worn  off.  Both  of  these  powers 
are  small  in  childhood,  but  are  indispensable  to  mature 


character.  Some  one  has  said  that  one  of  the  best  results 
of  education  is  the  power  to  do  the  thing  you  don't  want  to 
do,  at  the  time  you  don't  want  to  do  it.  We  must  not 
overtask  the  child's  limited  endurance,  but  he  must  learn 
the  difference  between  being  really  tired,  and  merely  tired 
of  the  particular  task  at  which  he  is  engaged. 

Closely  connected  with  the  increase  in  persistence  is  the 
development  of  the  sense  of  responsibility  for  a  particular 
task :    the  moral  philosopher  is  fond  of  saying  that  there 
is  a  work  in  the  world  for  each  one  of  us  which  no  one  else 
can  do,  and  the  sooner  the  small  man  gets  this  idea,  the 
better  for  him  and  his  development.    Industry  is  devo- 
tion to  one's  own  work,  and  the  child  can  never  get  any 
effective  training  in  it  until  he  has  tasks  of  his  very  own. 
Just  here  is  where  modern  urban  life,  which  is  the  destiny 
of  so  large  a  proportion  of  children,  is  at  a  serious  dis- 
advantage :   there  are  neither  cows  to  milk  nor  wood  to 
chop,  and  in  many  cases  not  even  a  chance  for  the  girl  to 
wash  dishes  or  be  her  mother's  responsible  aid  in  the  kitchen. 
Yet  for  a  boy  or  girl  to  reach  the  age  of  fifteen  without 
having  had  generous  experience  of  regular,  individual 
tasks,  is  Hke  letting  them  go  all  these  years  with  one  arm 
in  a  sHng ;  atrophy  of  the  unused  capacity  is  the  natural 
consequence  in  either  case.^ 

School  work  is  doubtless  of  great  use  in  this  direction, 
the  more  as  the  newer  ideas  of  activity  and  individual 
work  win  fuUer  recognition  in  the  schoolroom.     But  the 

1  See  again  Paulsen's  essay,  "  Village  and  Village  School,"  Educational 
Review,  December,  1906. 


So 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


HABITS 


8l 


il 


older  type  of  school  work  has  little  power  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  habit  of  industry ;  and  it  is  not  yet  safe  for  the 
home  and  parent  to  depend  upon  the  school ;  home  tasks, 
in  immediate  relation  to  the  common  family  life,  are  more 
effective  and  richer  in  their  results.  Moreover,  even  the 
school  task  must  be  backed  up  by  home  forces  if  it  is  to 
bear  its  full  fruit  of  training  in  industry :  shirking  is  hard 
to  treat  and  cure  in  school,  and  comparatively  easy 
through  home  cooperation. 

At  the  risk  of  getting  beyond  the  boundaries  of  habit, 
we  must  refer  here  to  an  clement  that  vitalizes  the  habit  of 
industry  and  insures  its  permanence;  that  is,  the  power  to 
pursue  a  purpose  having  its  reaUzation  some  time  hence, 
the  remote  aim,  we  may  call  it.  The  poet  says  the 
thoughts  of  youth  are  long,  long  thoughts,  and  it  is 
partly  true ;  but  the  child's  grasp  of  future  ends  is  con- 
spicuously weak.  The  infant  necessarily  lives  in  the 
moment  without  the  faintest  idea  of  the  future ;  the  little 
child  clings  to  the  joy  at  hand,  immoved  by  the  assurance 
that  sacrifice  now  wdll  give  tenfold  returns  to-morrow. 
Only  by  slow  degrees  is  foresight  gained  and  the  power  to 
strive  or  endure  for  the  time,  in  order  to  reap  the  fruit 
later.  The  development  of  this  power  is  intimately 
related  with  the  habit  of  industry,  each  supporting  and 
promoting  the  other. 

3.  ThougJUjidness.  The  world  is  more  and  more  ruled 
by  brains,  and  the  man  who  leads  must  think.  Waste, 
loss,  accident,  and  disease  are  traceable  largely  to  igno- 
rance and  heedlessness ;  the  best  remedy  for  both  these 


defects  is  the  habit  of  thinking.    We  have  already  seen 
how   generously  nature   has   provided   the  impulse  to 
thought  in  the  little  child,  in  the  form  of  sense-hunger, 
followed  by  curiosity  or  the  hunger  for  knowledge ;  these 
impulses  grow  into  a  habit  of  thought  as  naturally  as  the 
tree  grows  out  of  the  shoot ;  all  that  is  necessary  is  that 
the  child's  countless  and  ceaseless  questions.  What  ?  and 
Why  ?  and  How  ?  shall  be  reasonably  encouraged  and  sat- 
isfied ;  for  thinking  in  adult  life  is  simply  applying  the 
same  attitude  of  query  and  investigation  to  the  objects 
and  problems  one  meets  from  day  to  day,  and  to  the  great 
world  of  nature  and  spirit  in  which  one  lives.    Unhappily 
we  must  admit  that  the  keen  edge  of  child-curiosity  is 
often  blunted  in  early  years,  and  tlie  youth  becomes  in- 
different or  even  averse  to  mental  activity:  how  much 
this  is  due  to  parental  repression  of  the  child's  questions, 
and  how  much  to  school  tasks  and  drill  that  have  no 
appeal  to  child-nature,  is  a  hard  question ;  at  any  rate, 
it  is  worth  while  for  both  parent  and  teacher  to  shun 
everything  that  tends  to  quench  the  flame  of  this  impulse. 
The  positive  nurture  of  the  native  impulse  of  curiosity 
into  the  habit  of  thought  i.^  one  of  the  most  delightful 
tasks  of  parenthood ;    here  the  parent  finds  a  peculiar 
double  relation  to  the  child,  being  first  guide  and  superior, 
then,  when  the  child  gra^sps  the  new  idea,  standing  on  the 
same  plane  of  intellectual  equality;   for  logic  and  pure 
reason  know  nothing  of  youth  or  age,  and  when  two  minds 
think  the  same  thought,  they  experience  a  happy  com- 
munity.   It  need  hardly  be  added  that  the  teacher  share.s 


82 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


this  experience  with  the  parent,  and  finds  it  one  of  the 
chief  rewards  of  his  work.  It  is  also  clear  that  stimulus 
rather  than  information  is  what  the  young  mind  needs : 
the  parent  should  sharpen  the  child's  senses,  helping  him 
to  see,  hear,  feel,  perceive,  what  he  might  otherwise  ig- 
nore. This  is  the  first  form  of  mental  awakening,  and 
leads  almost  infallibly  to  higher  forms.  A  walk  in  the 
woods  is  an  ideal  occasion  for  such  culture :  forms  and 
colors  of  trees,  flowers,  moss,  rocks,  and  soils ;  the  songs  of 
birds  and  the  cries  of  animals,  the  shapes  and  tints  of 
clouds,  — all  offer  natural  attraction  and  stimulus  for 
sensory  cultivation.  ExceUent  are  also  the  forms  of 
^ater,  —  rain,  mist,  snow  and  its  crystals,  ice  and  icicles, 
streams  with  their  rapids  and  falls,  and  placid  surfaces 
with  their  reflections. 

As  the  child  grows  older,  the  emphasis  passes  insensibly 
from  mere  perception  to  judgment  and  reason,  and  the 
role  of  the  parent  becomes  more  exacting  and  perhaps 
even  more  inspiring.  To  be  successful  now  demands 
that  one  think  well  oneself,  —  not  necessarily  with  great 
erudition  or  scientific  information,  but  with  clearness, 
coherence,  good  reasoning,  so  that  the  same  excellencies 
may  be  formed  in  the  child-mind.  Ever  and  always  the 
great  achievement  is  to  let  the  child  think,  and  so  keep 
open  and  free  the  channels  of  the  native  impulse,  from 
which  alone  the  habit  can  be  developed. 

But  the  objection  will  already  have  risen  in  the  minds 
of  many  readers,  that  so  we  shall  force  the  child  to  a  false 
precocity  that  wiU  mar  his  natural  simplicity  and  damage 


HABITS 


^3 


his  health :  both  dangers  are  real,  but  neither  has  any 
necessary  connection  with  the  training  we  have  been 
describing.  Priggishness  is  not  at  all  the  habit  of  think- 
ing about  things,  but  rather  of  prating  about  them  to 
those  who  already  know  more  than  the  would-be  inform- 
ant. Such  a  tendency  is  apt  to  show  itself  in  any  child, 
thoughtful  or  thoughtless,  quite  as  likely  in  the  latter  as 
the  former.  It  should,  of  course,  be  gently  but  firmly 
repressed  and  discouraged,  Hke  other  spiritual  weeds. 
Moreover,  a  little  premature  book  knowledge  tends  far 
more  to  obnoxious  precocity  than  does  the  more  natural 
mental  culture  we  have  hinted  at,  through  nature  and  the 
child's  own  surroundings. 

As  to  health,  there  is  no  evidence  that  mental  alertness 
is  detrimental  to  bodily  growth  and  vigor.  Some  one  may 
answer,  ''But  what  about  the  children  who  must  be  taken 
out  of  school  to  recover  from  anaemia,  nervousness,  general 
debihty,  or  arrested  physical  development?"  First,  we 
have  said  not  a  word  about  school ;  the  most  enthusiastic 
advocate  of  school  education  cannot  shut  his  eyes  to  the 
fact  that  the  schoolroom  as  we  have  it,  even  in  the  best 
form,  is  not  calculated  to  minister  to  physical  prosperity ; 
it  restricts  natural  movement,  taxes  sight  and  hearing, 
puts  strain  upon  the  nerves,  and  often,  probably  usually, 
gives  the  child  impure  air  to  breathe.  Happily  we  five  in 
the  hopeful  dawn  of  a  better  day  in  school  regimen  and 
hygiene ;  it  would  be  well  if  those  who  criticize  our  present 
schools  so  freely  could  serve  a  term  or  two  in  a  school  of 
the  old  type,  with  its  hard  and  shapeless  benches,  its  foul 


N 


HABITS 


8S 


84 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


air,  bad  Ught,  deadly  dullness  of  curriculum,  and  harsh- 
ness of  discipline.  Besides  this,  we  risk  the  assertion  that 
the  child  who  has  been  led  to  think  a  Httle  before  going 
to  school,  in  the  manner  we  have  indicated,  will  deal  more 
easily  with  his  school  tasks,  and  be  less  Hkely  to  break 

down. 

The  fact  is  that  children  stop  growing,  become  nervous, 
and  break  down,  not  from  too  much  mental  activity, 
but  from  too  Httle  fresh  air,  outdoor  exercise,  sunshine, 
sleep,  and  in  general  from  a  false  and  noxious  physical 
regimen.    Naturally  a  boy  of  ten  or  fifteen  who  spends 
reading  or  dabbling  in  a  laboratory  the  hours  in  which 
nature  demands    that  he  should  play  baU,  run,  shout, 
wrestle,  and  work  his  lungs  and  heart  like  steam  engines, 
wiU  be  pale  and  feeble,  an  easy  prey  to  disease,  and  a 
hopeful  candidate  for  invaUdism.    The  trouble  is  not  that 
he  thinks  too  much,  but  that  he  plays  too  Httle.    The 
boy  who  sits  behind  the  stove  and  reads  hour-long,  should 
be  driven  out  of  doors ;  or,  rather,  no  child  should  ever  be 
aUowed  to  grow  into  such  a  boy.    Let  no  one  fear  pre- 
cocity, so  long  as  the  child  eats  heartily,  sleeps  long  and 
soundly,  and  plays  exuberantly,  as  every  normal  chHd 

does. 

We  must  not  omit  to  speak  of  one  form  of  thoughtful- 
ness  which  is  of  pecuHar  importance ;  we  mean  considera- 
tion for  the  feeHngs  and  interests  of  others.  It  is  true 
that  this  is  far  more  than  a  habit,  and  reaches  up  into  the 
highest  ranges  of  our  spiritual  life ;  yet  its  best  founda- 
tions are  laid  in  the  mental  habit  of  taking  our  feUows  into 


k 


account  in  aU  our  deliberations  and  plans.    The  impor- 
tance of  this  lower  habitual  element  is  shown  in  those 
people  who  have  the  best  intentions,  and  who,  when  they 
are  reminded  of  it,  are  kindness  itself,  but  who  through 
'thoughtlessness,'  constantly  tread  on  the  toes  of  their 
friends  and  associates  and  omit  the  simplest  acts  of  help- 
fulness and  regard.    Nor  are  persons  unknown  whose 
higher  principles  are  not  aU  that  could  be  desired,  and  who 
may  be  at  heart  rather  selfish,  and  yet  whose  habitual 
consideration  for  others  wins  them  love  and  contributes 
largely  to  the  happiness  of  their  associates.    How  great, 
then,  is  the  benefit  when  to  the  good  heart  is  joined  con- 
stant outward  manifestation  in  a  habit  of  kindly  considera- 
tion.   Just  as  the  parent  may  stimulate  and  sharpen  the 
child's  sense  for  the  outer  world,  and  his  comprehension 
of  its  forms  and  laws,  so  can  he  cultivate  his  perception 
and  comprehension  of  the  interests,  feeHngs,  plans,  and 
wishes  of  his  associates  in  the  home  and  at  play.    The 
Golden  Rule  is  one  of  the  best  auxiharies  in  this  task :  the 
average  chUd  can  quickly  transfer  his  own  feeUng  to  the 
case  of  his  playmate,  and  thus  see  his  problems  in  a  new 

and  true  Ught. 

4.  Truthfulness.  The  first  thing  to  say  about  the 
habit  of  truthfuhiess  is  that  it  is  not  a  habit,  but  some- 
thing far  greater ;  as  Richter  says  in  his  golden  chapter 
on  this  virtue,  "Truthfulness- that  is,  deUberate  and 
self-sacrificing  truthfulness,  -  is  not  so  much  a  branch  as 
rather  the  very  flower  of  manly  moral  strength.  Weak- 
lings cannot   but  Ue,  let   them  hate  it  as  they  will." 


86 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


i 


^i 


Under  stress  of  trial  and  temptation  no  habit,  nor  set  of 
habits,  will  stand ;  only  ideals  and  principles  will  then 
hold  a  man  firm  in  the  truth.  Nevertheless  there  is 
justification  in  treating  truthfulness  along  with  habits; 
and,  first,  because  lying  is  a  habit  in  some  defective  or 
ill-starred  children. 

The  child  naturally  tells  the  truth  as  a  part  of  his  basic 
suggestibility :   every  idea  tends  to  utter  itself  in  word  or 
deed :  so  when  he  has  seen,  heard,  experienced,  anything 
whatsoever,  and  has  the  image  of  it  in  his  mind,  he  natu- 
rally puts  that  image  into  words.     Similarly,  when  he  has 
in  mind  an  intention  or  plan  for  the  future,  it  is  natural 
for  him  upon  occasion  to  express  that  in  words  also.    This 
we  beHeve  to  be  absolutely  true,  and  profoundly  important 
in  any  study  of  the  real  nature  of  truthfulness  and  its 
contraries.     But  here,  as  with  so  many  other  natural 
tendencies,  we  must  at  once  recognize  the  existence  and 
power  of  conflicting  forces  that  are  just  as  natural.     In 
childhood  this  natural  tendency  to  truth  is  almost  as  fragile 
as  the  glassy  surface  of  still  water,  on  which  the  sHghtest 
breath  of  air  will  stir  a  thousand  ripples,  distorting  and 
effacing  the  clear  image  that  was  just  now  mirrored  in  the 
pool.     So  impulses  and  contingencies  blow  in  upon  the 
mirror  of  truthfulness  in  the  child's  soul,  and  break  its 
clear  images  into  contradictions,  exaggerations,  equivoca- 
tions, fantasies,  evasions,  and  all  other  forms  of  untruth. 
Two  questions  may  be  asked :  first.  What  are  the  chief 
enemies  of  truthfulness  in  the  child's  Hfe  ?  and,  second, 
How  may  the  frail  original  tendency  to  truth  telling  be 


HABITS 


87 


invigorated  and  reenforced  into  that  devotion  to  the  truth 
that  is  so  indispensable  to  human  character  ? 

Three  elements  threaten  the  child's  natural  truthful- 
ness; imagination,  fear,  and  desire.  The  first  produces 
images  that  do  not  correspond  with  reality,  and  these 
images  have  just  the  same  suggestive  power  as  the  real, 
and  lead  to  the  'romancing'  that  is  so  marked  in  certain 
children,  —  naturally  in  those  possessing  vivid  fancy. 
Many  parents  are  familiar  with  this  t3^e  of  imtruth; 
Richter  tells  of  a  little  girl,  truthful  in  all  ordinary  mat- 
ters, who  told  him  enthusiastic  stories  of  how  she  had  seen 
the  Christ  Child,  and  what  he  had  said  and  done.  Some- 
times these  fancy-pictures  are  told  with  evident  con- 
sciousness of  their  fiction,  or  even  humor ;  Sully  tells  of  a 
little  boy  who,  when  asked  who  told  him  something, 
answered,  ''Dolly";  then  burst  into  a  laugh.  All  these 
forms  of  untruth  must  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  child's 
play,  on  exactly  the  same  footing  as  his  other  make- 
believes.  Only  when  they  take  on  any  shade  of  real 
attempt  to  deceive  should  they  be  rebuked  and  discour- 
aged. To  quote  Richter :  "In  all  these  cases,  do  not  hold 
before  the  child  the  image  of  the  He  in  its  own  forbidding 
blackness,  but  simply  say;  'Don't  joke  about  it  any 
more,  but  be  serious.'  "  The  same  talented  writer  makes 
the  interesting  suggestion  that  children's  fantastic  nar- 
ratives may  sometimes  be  dreams  which  their  immature 
minds  have  not  been  able  to  distinguish  from  actual  ex- 
periences. 

Far  more  serious  are  the  falsehoods  generated  by  fear 


88  THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 

and  desire,  and  especially  the  former.    Here  let  us  parents 
and  teachers  take  to  heart  that  weighty  declaration  of  the 
Gospel  •   Woe  unto  him  that  causeth  one  of  these  litUe 
ones  to  stumble !    Avoid  as  far  as  may  be  the  inquisi- 
torial question  that  tempts  so  sorely  to  demal  of  con- 
scious wrong ;  learn  the  facts,  if  you  possibly  can,  without 
cross-examination  of  the  culprit.    It  would  seem  that  the 
criminal  court,  which  does  not  require  the  prisoner  to  tes- 
tify against  himself,  is  more  considerate  of  human  frailty 
in  the  adult  than  the  parental  and  pedagogical  judiaary 
is  of  the  tender  conscience  of  the  child !    Above  all,  let 
parent  and  teacher  keep  green  the  memory  of  their  own 
childhood  fears  and  the  terrors  of  parental  rebuke  and 

displeasure. 

To  punish  the  lie  of  fear  is  attempting  to  cure  one 
wound  by  inflicting  another ;  it  commissions  a  new  fear 
to  aid  the  old  one  in  its  attack  upon  truth.  The  most 
effective  remedy  is  the  grief  that  the  parent  should  feel, 
and  wisely  manifest,  that  his  child  should  be  so  hghtly 
bound  to  him ;  and  the  tender  endeavor  to  renew  and 
strengthen  those  ties  of  affection  and  trust  that  would 
make  repetition  of  the  fault  impossible.  Courage  and 
honor  must  also  be  called  upon  to  condemn  and  forbid 
stooping  to  deceit  in  order  to  escape  penalty. 

Very  different  is  the  lie  of  deliberation  or  cunning,  told  to 
escape  consequences  of  wrong  or  avoid  unpleasantness  of 
any  sort ;  such  lies  point  to  that  most  perilous  of  all  states, 
in  which  shrewdness  has  outrun  conscience,  and  character 
is  menaced  by  excess  of  intellect  over  principle.    Here 


HABITS 


89 


sharp  rebuke  and  cutting  penalty  are  in  place ;  especially 
must  the  child  feel  the  contempt  and  abhorrence  of  his 
elders  for  the  lie,  —  not,  be  it  noted,  for  him,  but  for  the 
act :  he  must  be  helped  to  convict  and  expel  the  wrong 
deed  and  so  make  it  foreign  to  his  own  being,  and  to  aid 
in  this  the  condemnation  must  be  leveled  at  the  deed 
rather  than  the  young  doer. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  in  all  cases  of  escape-lies  it 
it  highly  important  that  the  escape  should  fail  and  the  lie 
prove  futile.  Letting  the  children  pull  the  wool  over 
one^s  eyes  is  doubly  dangerous  through  the  encouragement 
it  lends  to  dishonesty  and  deceit.  This  evil  is  extreme  in 
certain  forms  of  'self-reporting,'  as  when  pupils  in  school 
answer  the  roll  call  at  night  with  a  statement  of  the  num- 
ber of  times  they  have  whispered:  honest  confession  is 
penaHzed,  a  premium  put  on  smug  deceit,  and  a  general 
decay  of  faith  in  righteousness  ensues.  Neither  parent 
nor  teacher  can  afford  to  forget  to  be  wise  as  serpents,  as 
well  as  harmless  as  doves. 

Still  worse  is  the  contrary  error  of  distrust  and  sus- 
picion toward  the  children.  It  is  a  very  commonplace 
experience  that  children  will  deceive  one  who  suspects 
them,  when  they  would  scorn  to  tell  anything  but  the 
truth  to  those  who  put  trust  in  them.  It  is  unfortunate 
for  the  parent  or  teacher  to  be  deceived  by  the  child,  but 
it  is  ten  times  worse  that  lack  of  confidence  on  the  side  of 
the  elder  should  breed  lack  of  candor  and  good  faith  in 

the  younger. 

Chapters  have  been  written  on  children's  lies ;  far  more 


QO 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


important  and  infinitely  sadder  would  be  the  chapters 
on  the  lies  of  parents.    We  have  not  seen  reports  of  any 
questionnaire  on  this  subject,  and  unfortunately  the  re- 
turns from  such  an  inquiry  would  be  inherently  worthless ; 
but  we  risk  the  assertion  that  in  number,  variety,  enormity, 
and,  above  all,  in  damage  done,  the  untruths  of  parents 
would  put  those  of  children  into  the  shade.     False  threats 
and  false  promises,  Hes  in  jest  and  Hes  in  earnest,  fooHsh 
lies  and  cunning  lies,  all  find  their  place  in  the  catalogue. 
The  astonishing  thing  is  that  men  and  women  who  are 
reasonably  scrupulous  in  their    communications  to  their 
adult  associates  will  often  play  fast  and  loose  with  the 
truth  in  dealing  with  their  children.     As  to  that  favorite 
question  concerning  the  original  truthfulness  or  untruth- 
fulness of  children,   it  would  be    as  easy  to  prove  that 
children  were  born  truthful  and  some  were  corrupted  by 
unscrupulous  parents,  as  that  all  were  born  without  truth- 
fulness  and   some  were  saved  by  the  virtuous  precept 
and  example  of  fathers  and  mothers. 

The  Httle  child  conceives  father  and  mother  as  all  that 
we  adults  embody  in  our  idea  of  the  Divine,  and  the  in- 
evitable disillusionment  that  comes  with  wider  knowl- 
edge is  at  best  a  serious  and  painful  experience ;  can  we 
not  recall  the  sad  surprise  with  which  we  first  became 
aware  that  there  were  things  beyond  the  wisdom  and 
power  of  our  fathers?  Happy  is  the  child  who  at  least 
finds  no  need  of  abating  his  complete  confidence  in  the 
honor  of  his  parents :  he  is  safe  from  the  greatest  peril 
that  can  threaten  his  own  ideals  of  truthfulness. 


HABITS 


91 


Happily,  the  majority  of  normal  children,  probably  all 
of  them,  have  a  deep  and  potent  horror  of  lies :  excepting 
'coward'  only,  'liar'  is  the  most  intolerable  epithet  in 
schoolboy  parlance.  Probably  most  of  us  can  still  recall 
the  dark  and  wretched  shame  we  felt  as  little  children 
after  having  fallen  in  a  moment  of  stress  into  falsehood,  or 
what  we  considered  as  such.  The  very  love  of  children 
for  ' really- truly '  stories  is  significant;  as  is  the  protest 
the  little  child  will  make  against  the  slightest  variation 
from  the  exact  text  of  a  favorite  tale.  Whether  this 
element  of  conscience  is  native  or  an  acquisition  of  the 
earliest  years  does  not  concern  us  here ;  it  is  there,  and  is 
a  powerful  force  for  truthfulness. 

We  may  well  conclude  this  part  of  our  discussion  by  a 
return  to  the  first  proposition,  that  truthfuhiess  as  a 
positive,  resistant,  and  aggressive  virtue  is  the  very  flower 
of  a  perfected  character ;  we  shall  meet  it  again,  and  its 
associated  higher  virtues,  in  the  form  of  ideals  and  life 
principles,  in  the  higher  regions  of  conscious  moral  life. 

Bad  Habits.  Although  our  theme  is  the  essentials  of 
character,  and  bad  habits  cannot  possibly  be  one  of  these, 
yet  we  must  turn  aside  for  a  moment  to  consider  what 
are  commonly  known  as  "bad  habits,"  for  the  reason  that 
they  are  the  insidious  foes  of  all  the  elements  of  true 
character,  and  therefore  the  student  of  moral  education 
or  the  worker  in  the  field  must  be  intelligent  about  these 
pathological  forms  of  habit.  Bad  habits  are  so  called 
first  because  they  damage  the  body  or  the  mind  and 
stunt  their  development,  and,  second,  because  they  en- 


1 1 


J 

i  1 


i    ! 


!l 


i 


92 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


slave  the  will  and  make  full  spiritual  freedom  impossible. 
In  extreme  cases  the  evil  habit  paralyzes  all  other  im- 
pulses and  principles  and  exercises  complete  tyranny  over 
the  life  and  conduct  of  its  victim;  even  the  smallest 
habit  that  defies  the  sovereignty  of  free  rational  choice 
is  a  deduction  from  fullness  of  Hfe. 

Let  us  emphasize  first  of  all  that  the  only  safe  and  fijial 
protection  against  bad  habits  is  abundance  of  healthy, 
happy,  natural  activity ;    *  overcome  evil  with  good '  is 
the  key  to  this  problem,  as  to  many  others.    Certainly 
there  are  special  precautions  and  remedies  for  various 
cases,  but  these  are  subordinate  and  temporary ;  even  if 
we  could  by  the  aid  of  these  drive  out  the  bad  habit,  un- 
less we  provide  abundance  of  wholesome  activity,  the  case 
is  likely  to  be  that  of  the  Gospel  parable,  where  the  ejected 
devil  returns  to  find  his  former  dwelling  'empty,  swept, 
and  garnished,'  and  enters  in   with  seven  other  devils 
worse  than  himself.     Children  and  youths,  of  all  human 
beings,  crave   activity  and  variety  with    an  insatiable 
hunger;    if  they  do  not  find  healthy  occupation  and 
diversion,  they  will  inevitably  acquire  or  even  devise  ab- 
normal and  injurious  activities.    This  is  the  great  ex- 
cellence of  games  and  sports,  and  also  of  various  arts  and 
accomplishments  that  interest  and  occupy  boys  and  girls. 

By  wholesome  activity,  then,  we  cut  off  the  bad  habit  by 
refusing  it  time  and  space  in  which  to  take  root.  Next  we 
must  arm  against  it  all  the  forces  of  self-respect  and  per- 
sonal honor,  of  which  we  shall  speak  fully  in  a  later 
chapter.    One  more  point  here,  concerning  parental  (and 


HABITS 


93 


educational)   vigilance  against  the  beginnings  of  these 
habits.    The  very  nature  of  habit  is  to  be  weak  at  first 
and  to  grow  progressively  strong  until  it  becomes  irre- 
sistible.   This  is  peculiarly  true  in  the  case  of  the  worst 
forms  of  bad  habits,  for  they  are  contrary  to  nature,  and 
so  at  the  outset  easily  crowded  out  of  the  soul  by  normal 
impulses ;  but  soon  they  pervert  the  very  nature  of  the 
soul,  corrupt  the  currents  of  healthy  life,  and  paralyze  the 
very  forces  that  should  expel  them.    The  most  perplexing 
and  perilous  of  bodily  vices  are  eminently  of  this  patho- 
logical type ;  probably  in  every  case  the  pernicious  habit 
might  have  been  nipped  in  the  bud  if  only  some  wise  and 
loving  elder  could  have  known  of  the  first  lapses  into  the 
act.    Vigilance  should  include  preventive  precepts  and 
enlightenment  given  at  the  fit  time  and  in  an  appropriate 
manner;   a  prophylactic,  as  it  were,  arming  the  youth 
agamst  certain  particular  perils,  such  as  the  ones  already 
mentioned,  and  such  minor  vices  as  gambling,  cigarette 
smoking,  swearing,  and  the  like. 


TASTES 


95 


■  ( 


CHAPTER  V 


Tastes 


Our  likes  and  dislikes  exert  a  fateful  influence  upon 
both  our  own  happiness  and  our  value  to  others.    The 
ancients  recognized  this  fully,  but  modern  education  has 
long  neglected  it  and  is  now  slowly  beginning  to  rub  its 
eyes  and  awake  to  the  significance  of  training  the  tastes. 
To  like  the  wrong  things  may  mean  the  ruin  of  body  and 
soul,  a  worthless  and  wretched  hfe,  and  all  that  we  may 
well  pray  to  be  delivered  from.    To  like  the  right  things  is 
an  indispensable  condition  to  health  of  body  and  mind, 
to  contentment  and  happiness,  and  to  usefulness.     Likes 
and  dislikes  run  powerfully  into  habits  and  even  affect 
principles :  for  when  we  are  fond  of  a  certain  pleasure  it 
is  hard  for  us  to  condemn  it,  even  though  our  reason  bids 
us  do  so.    It  is  a  too  familiar  fact  that  some  of  the  most 
deadly  foes  of  physical  health  and  vigor  are  certain  tastes, 
either  pathological,  like  that  for  intoxicants  and  narcotics, 
or  excessive,  as  those  of  the  gormand  or  sensualist. 

Man  must  fill  up  his  life  with  something :  if  good  is  not 
at  hand  to  attract  and  satisfy,  then  he  will  needs  "fill  his 
belly  with  the  husks"  that  only  swine  should  eat.  Those 
classes  and  groups  of  men  who  almost  universally  indulge 
in  drunkenness,  as,  for  example,  miners  and  marine  stokers, 

94 


do  so  in  the  main  not  because  they  are  morally  worse  than 
others,  but  because  either  from  natural  defect  or  lack  of 
culture  they  have  nothing  better  to  do:  to  all  higher 
enjoyments  they  are  strangers,  and  the  universal  hunger 
for  pleasure  and  diversion  leads  them  irresistibly  into 
those  coarse  and  violent  indulgences  that  are  within  their 
range.     What  is  shown  in  lurid  colors  in  them  is  simply 
the  extreme  of  all  cases  in  which  the  education  of  the 
tastes  has  been  neglected ;   their  lives  are  a  striking  and 
terrible  object  lesson ;  but  every  man  whose  tastes  have 
been  allowed  to  develop  in  wrong  directions,  or  in  whom 
the  best  tastes  have  failed  of   higher  perfection,  loses 
thereby  from  the  inner  joy  and  outer  value  of  his  whole 
life.    Every  good  taste  is  a  source  and  guarantee  of  happy, 
healthy  hours  and  days,  and  thus  of  the  enrichment  and 

elevation  of  life. 

Of  social  and  economic  conditions  that  doom  thousands 
of  men  and  women  to  such  unceasing  toil  and  squalid 
surroundings  that  higher  tastes  are  absolutely  out  of  the 
question,  what  shall  be  said  ?  At  least  this,  that  educa- 
tion is  only  half  of  the  remedy:  hence  the  need,  empha- 
sized elsewhere,  of  the  educator,  especially  the  parent, 
working  also  for  general  social  uplift,  in  order  that  his 
educative  labors  may  not  be  nuUified  by  the  crushing 
force  of  unfavorable  environment. 

The  aim  of  the  education  of  the  tastes  will,  of  course,  vary 
in  detail  with  every  individual  child,  in  accordance  with 
the  peculiar  bent  of  his  natural  impulses.  But  here,  as 
elsewhere  in  human  nature,  there  are  some  universals, 


96 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


and  to  these  let  us  first  turn.  First  of  all  is  it  clear 
that  we  should  cultivate  tastes  that  are  wholesome, 
that  not  only  do  not  injure  but  actually  aid  and  encourage 
normal  growth  and  healthy  function  in  body  and  mind. 
Not  quite  so  evident,  perhaps,  but  quite  as  true,  is  it  that 
we  should  strive  for  inexpensive  tastes;  this  because  ex- 
pensive pleasures  lay  a  heavy  economic  burden  upon  both 
the  individual  and  upon  the  community :  the  man  who, 
in  order  to  enjoy  himself,  must  have  costly  food,  elegant 
clothing,  a  great  estabhshment,  high-priced  wines  and 
cigars,  automobiles,  steam  yachts,  and  the  like,  must 
needs  get  possession  of  great  sums  of  money ;  sometimes 
it  is  the  woman  who  has  the  expensive  tastes;  in  either  case 
the  pressure  is  the  same,  and  the  disastrous  results  to 
individual  and  social  morals  are  just  beginning  to  be  ex- 
posed in  our  own  days.  "The  love  of  money  is  a  root  of 
all  evil,"  and  costly  tastes  create  love  of  money,  and  a 
host  of  evils  come  in  the  train.  Every  parent  wants  his 
child  to  be  able  to  '  earn  a  living  '  and  gain  enough  to 
satisfy  his  wants ;  but  not  all  recognize  that  this  end  may 
be  forwarded  not  only  by  increasing  his  earning  power, 
but  also  by  training  him  to  be  happy  without  much;  in 
other  words,  by  cultivating  simple  and  inexpensive  tastes. 
Fortunately  the  two  kinds  of  tastes  are  largely  identical : 
the  most  wholesome  tastes  are  simple  and  inexpensive; 
the  unbought  joys  of  hfe  in  general  niinister  to  health  and 
abundant  vigor  in  soul  and  body.  Let  us  consider  in 
particular  a  few  of  these  wholesome  and  inexpensive 
tastes. 


TASTES 


97 


I.  Wholesome  Food.  First  of  all  comes  one  already 
hinted  at  in  a  previous  passage,  the  taste  for  whole- 
some and  natural  food.  To  harp  upon  this  theme  seems 
almost  an  affront  to  the  intelligence  of  the  early  guar- 
dians of  childhood ;  but  it  is  hard  to  escape  the  convic- 
tion that  thousands  of  children  constantly  suffer  in  their 
present  health  and  their  future  welfare  by  indulgence  in 
unsuitable  diet.  The  truth  is  that  certain  artificial  arti- 
cles of  food  have  the  power  of  stimulating  the  sense  of 
taste  very  highly,  and  so  exercising  a  sort  of  fascination 
upon  the  child :  having  once  tasted  the  sugary,  high-sea- 
soned, or  aromatic,  he  no  longer  cares  for  the  milk  and 
bread  and  other  common  foods  that  his  stomach  really 
needs.  He  rejects  these  healthy  foods  and  demands  the 
others :  seldom,  indeed,  has  the  mother,  who  has  indulged 
him  so  far,  the  resolution  to  let  hunger,  if  need  be,  cure 
the  corruption  of  taste  that  indulgence  has  wrought. 

Every  day  that  the  child^s  acquaintance  with  the  taste 
of  complex  or  high-flavored  food  and  drink  can  be  post- 
poned is  a  day  saved,  and  an  advance  made  in  the  ground- 
ing of  natural  tastes.  We  have  already  called  attention 
to  the  presence  of  strong  native  appetite  for  the  whole- 
some foods  of  childhood;  the  whole  battle  consists  in 
feeding  these  tastes  abundantly  and  religiously  avoiding 
even  awakening  the  others.  The  method  is  infallible :  the 
only  difficulty  is  in  executing  it,  and  that  difficulty  will 
yield  to  vigilance  and  resolution ;  the  conflict  is  of  true 
parental  love  versus  indulgence,  of  intelligence  and  fore- 
sight against  ignorance  or  feebleness  of  will. 


H 


98 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


2.   Bodily  Activity,     We  have  already  spoken  of  the 
powerful  native  tendency  of  the  child  to  bodily  activity 
—  the  first  and   most  notable  tendency  in  the  earHest 
period  of  childhood.     The  primitive  Hfe  of   uncivihzed 
men  always  gave  abundant  scope  and  encouragement  for 
this  tendency  to  estabhsh  itself   thoroughly  as  a  habit, 
and  under  those  conditions  there  was  no  need  of  special 
training  to  secure  continued  activity  and  efficiency  of  the 
body.     Civilization,  however,  has  changed  all  this,  and 
many  of   the  callings  followed   by  civilized   man  offer 
httle  opportunity  and  encouragement  for  physical  activ- 
ity and  vigor.    The  active  and  stimulating  existence  and 
outdoor  life  of  the  savage,  exposed  to  the  vicissitudes  of 
weather  and  full  of  emergencies  calHng  for  strength  and 
swiftness  of  hmb,  steady  nerve,  and  long  endurance,  has 
given  way  to  indoor  life,  bound  to  chairs  and  tables 
and  desks,  excluding  the  breezy  open-air  stimulus,  forbid- 
ding all  but  the  smallest  amount  of  muscular  movement. 
The  result  is  that  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  impulses  of 
bodily  activity  in  the  child  are  checked  and  starved,  and 
fail  to  be  established  as  habits.     The  grown  man  and 
woman   become   averse    to   running,   leaping,   jumping, 
and  other  strenuous  exercises,  lose  strength  of  muscle  and 
keenness  of  nerve,  and  lapse  into  a  comparative  feeble  and 
indolent  physique.    As  Smiles  says,  "Hence  in  this  age  of 
progress  we  find  so  many  stomachs  weak  as  blotting  paper, 
—hearts  indicating  'fatty  degeneration,'— unused,  pith- 
less hands,  calveless  legs  and  limp  bodies,  without  any 
elastic  spring  in  them.  ...    The  mind  itself  grows  sickly 


TASTES 


99 


and  distempered,  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  is  impeded,  and 
manhood  becomes  withered,  sickly,  and  stunted."  Books 
have  been  written  on  the  terrible  threat  of  race  degeneracy 
involved  in  this  lapse  of  physical  activity.  It  is  clear  that 
one  of  the  duties  of  civilized  education  is  to  throw  its 
powerful  influence  into  the  scale  to  conserve  the  native 
impulses  and  establish  in  permanent  form  the  love  and 
habit  of  bodily  activity. 

Fortunately,  the  educational  thought  of  our  own  time 
is  thoroughly  awake  to  the  priceless  value  of  play;  the 
deep  meaning  of  the  universal  play  instinct  in  the  child 
has  dawned  upon  us,  and  we  realize  that  intellectual  prog- 
ress which  is  gained  at  the  expense  of  the  child's  love  of 
play  and  habit  of  play  is  too  dearly  bought.  So  we  find 
schools,  particularly  in  the  primary  grades,  reducing  the 
amount  of  mental  work,  increasing  the  proportion  of 
physical  activity  in  actual  school  work  and  making  posi- 
tive provision  in  the  shape  of  playgrounds,  gymnasiums, 
field  sports,  excursions,  and  the  like,  for  the  physical  de- 
velopment of  the  child. 

Every  boy  and  every  girl  should  be  allowed  and  encour- 
aged and,  if  necessary,  compelled  to  keep  up  his  bodily  activ- 
ity and  efficiency.  He  should  form  what  we  may  call  the 
athletic  habit,  by  which  we  mean  first  an  intense  love  of 
physical  activity  in  a  variety  of  forms  and  also  a  settled 
habit  of  practicing  such  activity  throughout  his  life.  We 
have  treated  this  whole  subject  under  that  of  tastes  rather 
than  habits,  because  the  really  most  important  thing  is  the 
love  of  an  activity.    The  child,  like  the  calf,  the  colt,  and 


100 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


the  lamb,  is  filled  with  a  physical  joy;  every  muscular 
movement  thrUls  and  exhilarates.  This  is  the  thing  that 
we  should  most  strive  to  preserve.  For  if  the  love  of 
activity  exists,  the  opportunity  will  be  found  and  used. 
Hence  the  unrivaled  value  of  play  and  sport,  free  and  un- 
constrained, the  natural  and  spontaneous  expression  of 

child-nature. 

Closely  bound  up  with  this  athletic  habit  is  what  might 
be  caUed  the  outdoor  habit,  —  the  love  of  fresh  air,  fields, 
woods,  and  streams ;  indifference  to  minor  bodily  dis- 
comfort, such  as  cold  and  heat,  dampness,  soiled  hands, 
and  even  bruised  and  scratched  bodies.  It  is  a  far  greater 
defect  in  a  child  not  to  be  able  to  climb  a  tree,  swim  a 
stream,  jump  a  ditch,  or  run  a  half-mile,  than  to  be 
unable  to  speU  long  words  or  teU  the  agricultural  products 

of  Bolivia. 

To  take  a  rather  long  look  at  this  question,  we  may  note 
the  fact  that  a  human  being  may  actually  fend  off  the  en- 
croachments of  physical  old  age  by  preserving  this  habit 
of  activity.  Gladstone  at  eighty  could  still  swing  abroadax 
with  delight  and  effect.  Our  own  exemplar  of  approximate 
human  perfection,  President  EUot,  is  more  vigorous  in 
body  at  seventy-five  than  the  majority  of  men  at  forty. 
In  both  these  cases  the  joy  and  habit  of  bodily  activity 
have  been  assiduously  preserved  throughout  Hfe.     It  is 
surely  not  necessary  to  dwell  here  upon  the  intimate  re- 
lation of  body  and  soul,  and  upon  the  fact  that  a  perfect 
human  life  requires  perfection  in    both   sides   of    its 
nature ;  and,  furthermore,  that  every  added  element  of 


TASTES 


lOI 


strength  and  vigor  in  the  body  is  in  itself  a  ground  and 
cause  for  greater  mental  and  spiritual  power. 

In  adolescence  —  that  great  crisis  in  human  develop- 
ment —  the  battle  against  the  peculiar  perils  of  the 
period  is  half  won  if  the  boy  stiU  possesses  the  full  joy  of 
bodily  vigor  and  perfection.  Excessive  sexual  impulses 
and  morbid  or  perverted  tendencies  find  no  foothold  in  a 
body  hardened  by  athletic  habits  and  seasoned  by  out- 
door exercise.  Moreover,  the  very  pride  of  bodily 
perfection  —  of  which  we  shall  speak  more  fully  in  a  later 
chapter  —  is  one  of  the  greatest  bulwarks  against  all 
forms  of  vice. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  the  young  person  who  is 
destined  to  enter  a  sedentary  calling  needs  most  of  all 
to  be  cultivated  and  trained  in  his  physical  life. 
Particularly  is  this  true  of  the  student,  whose  various  occu- 
pations in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  are  nearly  all  hostile 
to  bodily  health  and  development.  Defective  vision  is 
probably  quite  as  often  due  to  lack  of  general  physical 
vigor  as  it  is  to  excessive  tasking  of  the  eyes.  Nervous 
breakdown,  which  is  so  common  among  the  more  studi- 
ous, is  chargeable  rather  to  neglect  of  the  physical  than 
to  overdevelopment  of  the  mental. 

When  we  consider  school  athletics,  which  is  a  subject  of 
so  much  debate,  in  the  light  of  these  truths,  it  is  quite  clear 
that  the  great  defect  of  our  present  practice  is  not  excess  of 
athletics,  but  a  lack  of  proper  distribution.  The  great 
importance  of  the  subject  may  excuse  repetition  of 
what  has  been  said  so  many  times  before,  that  while  the 


I02 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


high  perfection  of  a  few  individuals  is,  no  doubt,  a  legiti- 
mate aim,  it  is  far  more  important  that  all  the  young 
people  be  developed  to  a  reasonable  normal  degree  of 
athletic  efficiency.  It  is  a  prime  fault  of  the  present  that 
the  great  majority  of  boys  and  girls  in  school  and  young 
men  and  women  in  college  get  their  physical  culture  vica- 
riously, and  for  themselves  develop  only  excessive  lung 
power  and  strident  vocal  cords.  It  is  time  that  the 
*^ bleacher  and  yell"  type  of  athletics  for  the  many  gave 
way  to  universal  participation  in  plays  and  games. 

So  far  as  the  little  child  is  concerned,  if  we  are  to  con- 
serve and  cultivate  his  natural  physique,  we  must  needs 
exercise  a  good  deal  of  patience  with  his  restlessness  and 
noise.  It  is  true  that  both  of  these  must  be  modified  and 
harmonized  with  the  other  demands  of  Hf  e,  but  the  greatest 
consideration  should  be  used  to  avoid  sacrificing  his  real 
bodily  welfare  in  the  process.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  an 
education  which  tends  to  produce  children  who  love  to  sit 
still  rather  than  to  romp  and  play  is  a  fatal  mistake. 
Certainly  it  must  be  clear  that  the  active  participation 
of  father  and  mother  in  the  joyful  sports  of  childhood  is 
one  of  the  most  powerful  educative  agencies  to  accom- 
pHsh  the  ends  which  we  have  been  discussing. 

3.  Love  of  Beauty.  The  pioneer  was  driven  by  the 
inexorable  conditions  of  his  existence  to  devote  his  atten- 
tion and  energies  to  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  This  is 
true  both  of  the  individual  and  the  race.  Consequently, 
when  intelhgent  critics  of  America  tell  us  that  we  pay 
too  little  attention  to  the  aesthetic,  we  need  not  deny  or 


TASTES 


103 


apologize  inasmuch  as  our  history  makes  it  clear  that 
nothing  else  up  to  the  present  could  be  expected.  What 
we  should  do,  however,  is  to  shape  our  education  in  such 
a  way  that  the  rising  generation  shall  in  this  respect  be 
superior  to  us  who  are  now  on  the  stage.  We  need  to 
open  our  hearts  to  the  truth  that  an  essential  part  of  Hfe 
is  the  quiet,  reposeful  joy  found  in  the  contemplation  and 
appreciation  of  beauty  in  every  form.  The  ability  to  find 
happiness  in  beauty  is  one  of  the  great  assets  of  any  Hfe, 
and  the  familiar  Hues  of  Keats  express  a  truth  that  is 
ethical  no  less  than  aesthetic :  — 


"A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever : 
Its  loveliness  increases ;  it  will  never 
Pass  into  nothingness  ;  but  still  will  keep 
A  bower  quiet  for  us,  and  a  sleep 
Full  of  sweet  dreams,  and  health,  and  quiet  breathing. 


>» 


Moreover,  few  of  the  tasks  of  the  educator  are  so  delight- 
ful and  so  profitable,  both  to  teacher  and  taught,  as  the 
endeavor  to  open  the  eager  soul  of  childhood  and  youth 
to  the  priceless  and  beneficent  power  of  beauty. 


First  of  all,  for  every  reason  comes  the  appreciation 
of  the  dehghts  furnished  free  by  the  hand  of  nature.  It 
a  notorious  fact  that  the  majority  of  grown  men  and 
women  are  more  or  less  blind  to  the  beauties  which  He 
about  them  in  their  daily  walks.  It  is  no  less  true  that 
an  occasional  individual  finds  pleasure  and  health-giving 
delight  in  these  same  sources.    Here  again  the  educator 


I04 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


finds  the  indispensable  ground  for  his  work  in  a  natural 
impulse.    The  little  child  who  cannot  yet  talk  shows 
unmistakable  joy  in  bright  colors,  flowers,  clouds,  and 
dancing  waves.    It  is  a  common  sight  to  see  little  boys 
six  or  seven  years  old  with  their  hands  full  of  gay  blos- 
soms which  they  have  gathered  in  the  woods.    It  is  sad  to 
realize  that  in  most  cases  these  same  lads  in  a  few  years 
will  have  lost  that  source  of  joy  and  that  to  them  the 
flowers  will  be  no  more  than  was  the  yellow  primrose 
to  Peter  Bell.    No  more  convincing  argument  can  be 
found  for  the  right  of  the  child  to  have  an  aesthetic  educa- 
tion than  these  powerful  natural  impulses  of  aesthetic  joy. 
The  duty  of  the  parent  and  teacher  is  clear :  simply  from 
time  to  time,  whenever  opportunity  offers,  to  direct  the 
child's  eye  and  mind  toward  the  object  of  beauty  that  is 
before  him.    Such  training  can  begin  in  infancy  and  be 
continued  throughout  developmental  life ;  by  such  quiet, 
unpretentious  means  a  permanent  trend  may  be  given  to 
the  attention  and  interest  of  the  mind,  and  so  this  source 
of  Ufe  and  satisfaction,  which  so  often  perishes  from  in- 
anition, may  be  preserved  through  youth  into  maturity 
and  become  a  permanent  element  of  the  soul. 

Certainly  those  who  dwell  in  regions  of  scenic  beauty 
with  mountains,  lakes,  streams,  and  forests  are  peculiarly 
fortunate  in  this  respect ;  we  praise  the  parent  who  could 
actually  find  a  motive  for  changing  his  place  of  residence 
in  the  desire  to  let  his  children  grow  up  in  a  favored  situa- 
tion in  respect  to  natural  beauty.  However,  any  rural 
region  offers  sufficient  possibility  for  the  development  of 


TASTES 


105 


the  love  of  natural  beauty.  Cloud  scenery  alone,  which 
is  as  fine  in  the  boundless  plains  of  the  Middle  West  as 
anywhere  in  the  world,  offers  an  almost  limitless  reahn  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  aesthetic  sense.  The  beauty  of 
familiar  objects  is  everywhere  to  be  enjoyed,  and  the  child 
may  easily  be  habituated  to  appreciate  the  forms  and 
colors  of  flowers,  the  figures  of  crystals,  and  the  grace  of 
animals. 

We  have  said  that  the  tastes  in  general  should  be  whole- 
some and  inexpensive.  In  these  respects  the  love  of  na- 
ture takes  first  place.  It  tempts  one  out-of-doors  into 
the  fresh  air,  to  take  excursions  on  foot  or  horseback,  or 
on  the  water.  It  carries  us  away  from  the  beaten  paths 
into  the  healthy  solitude  of  woods  and  hills.  It  has 
power  to  soothe  and  heal  the  irritation  and  nerve 
strain  of  urban  fife,  and  in  every  way  to  contribute  to 
soundness  and  sanity  of  body  and  soul.  To  all,  except 
the  unfortunate  submerged  tenth  of  our  great  cities, 
these  pleasures  are  offered  quite  or  almost  free  of  charge, 
and  fortunately  municipal  and  civic  progress  are  doing 
much  to  open  the  same  joys  to  the  poor  by  means  of  parks 
and  playgrounds  in  the  midst  of  our  cities,  and  inexpen- 
sive excursions  to  seaside  and  country.  It  would  seem 
that  the  opportunities  for  access  to  natural  beauties  are 
greater  than  the  capacity  of  our  people  to  experience  these 
joys.  The  richness  and  value  of  life,  both  to  the  individ- 
ual and  to  the  nation  at  large,  can  be  wonderfully  en- 
hanced if  home  and  school  \vill  do  their  full  duty  in  the 
cultivation  of  this  taste. 


io6 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


After    the  appreciation  of    nature   comes  logically  a 
capacity  to  enjoy  the  products  of  human  creative  art. 
While  we  must  give  these  a  secondary  place  and  empha- 
size the  fact  that  the  appreciation  of  nature  is  deeper 
and  more  fundamental,  as  well  as  more  universal  and 
accessible,  nevertheless  the  cultivation  of   the   appreci- 
ation of  artificial  beauty  is  a  great  end  in  itself  and  also 
a  powerful   agent  in    stimulating  the   taste   for  natural 
beauty.    Moreover,  creative  art  overcomes  the  Umita- 
tions  of  time  and  space  and  opens  to  us  the  beautiful 
creations  of  remote  ages  and  distant  lands.     It  is  doubt- 
less true,  also,  that  the  object  of  art  has  a  certain  aesthetic 
superiority  over  nature  in  that  it  is  carefully  selected :  all 
irrelevant  and  inharmonious  elements  are  excluded,  and 
thus  the  picture  or  statue  may  make  a  peculiar  and  power- 
ful appeal  to  the  aesthetic  sense  of   the  beholder.     Cer- 
tainly no  one  who  is  to  live  in  a  civilized  community,  and 
particularly  in  a  city,  can  afford  to  be  without  a  fair  de- 
gree of  capacity  to  appreciate  art.     In  these  days  when 
excellent  reproductions  of  art  can  be  obtained  at  slight 
cost,  it  is  easy  for  every  home  to  possess  the  essentials 
for  a  simple  yet  effective  art  education  of  the  children. 
Only  let  the  pictures  be  of  unquestionable  merit  and  the 
reproductions  faithful.    Happily,  in  this  task  the  schools 
are  showing  the  way ;  and  it  has  been  abundantly  proved 
that  little  children  in  the  first  grades  of  the  elementary 
school  are  susceptible  of  a  genuine  love  for  beautiful  pic- 
tures.    Probably  nowhere  more  than  in  these  schools  has 
it  been  shown  that  really  good  pictures  do  not  wear  out. 


TASTES 


107 


In  a  certain  schoolroom  the  children  had  money  enough 
to  buy  a  single  picture ;  the  teacher  hung  in  the  room  a 
copy  of  "The  Gleaners"  and  told  the  children  that  the 
picture  would  be  exchanged  at  the  end  of  the  month  if 
they  so  desired ;  at  first  the  chHdren  had  smaU  interest  in 
the  picture ;  as  the  month  went  on,  however,  the  teacher 
took  occasion  from  time  to  time  to  call  their  attention  to 
the  picture  and  talk  to  them  about  its  meaning  and 
beauty ;  at  the  end  of  the  month  the  class  unanimously 
declined  to  aUow  the  picture  to  be  taken  away.  The  ex- 
perience manifested  two  things,  the  absolute  exceUence 
of  the  picture  itself  and  the  full  capacity  of  the  child's 
soul  to  rise  to  an  appreciation  of  genuine  art.  The  tiling 
of  beauty  had  become  to  them  a  joy  forever. 

Any  argument  to  prove  the  power  and  value  of  music 
in  human  Hfe  would  be  impertinent.  We  need  only  to 
plead  that  it  be  given  more  place  in  the  education  of  our 
children.  The  ancients  not  only  recognized  the  power  of 
music  to  touch  the  heart  and  affect  the  emotions  for  the 
moment,  but  they  also  ascribed  to  it  a  peculiar  and  pro- 
found influence  over  permanent  character.  While  it  is 
not  the  custom  m  modern  times  to  lay  stress  upon  this 
permanent  influence  of  music,  it  must  be  said  that  noth- 
ing has  been  brought  forward  to  disprove  its  existence. 
However,  the  claim  of  music  to  an  important  place  in 
the  education  of  children  can  be  suflicientiy  established 
by  its  great  and  unique  power  to  afford  delight  and  di- 
version to  tiie  soul.     The  interest  shown  by  savage  races 


io8 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


and  little  children  in  simple  forms  of  music  indicates 
clearly  enough  that  a  love  of  music  is  an  organic  part  of 
human  nature,  and  would  naturally  lead  us  to  assume 
that  musical  culture  is  an  indispensable  part  of  a  com- 
plete education. 

The  method  of  culture  in  music  is  similar  to  that  in  art 
and  other  forms  of  aesthetic  capacity :  it  consists  in  bring- 
ing the  child  within  the  reach  and  influence  of  the  aesthetic 
stimulus.  Let  him  from  the  earliest  years  hear  good 
music  sung  or  played ;  at  first  the  music  should  be  of  the 
simplest  kinds,  and  as  the  child  matures  he  will  naturally 
gain  the  power  to  comprehend  more  complex  and  highly 
developed  forms.  The  great  thing  is  to  let  music  be  a 
regular  and  frequent  part  of  his  life  so  that  the  rudimen- 
tary powers  of  appreciation  found  in  the  child  may  have 
no  opportunity  to  languish  through  disuse,  but  may  grow 
and  be  confirmed  into  a  permanent  element  in  character. 

With  reference  to  both  music  and  art  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  capacity  to  appreciate  these  forms  of  beauty  may 
be  highly  cultivated  without  the  power  to  create.  Com- 
paratively few  children  can  or  indeed  should  be  highly 
educated  in  artistic  or  musical  accomplishments.  In  both 
cases  the  training  for  the  accomplishment  includes  long 
and  tedious  drill  in  mechanical  processes.  The  instruc- 
tion is  costly,  and  the  study  absorbs  an  enormous  amount 
of  the  child's  time  and  strength.  A  reasonable  capacity 
to  appreciate  music  and  art,  on  the  other  hand,  quite  suf- 
fices to  enrich  life  and  exercise  a  wholesome  influence  upon 
character,  and  can  be  achieved  with  far  less  expense  of 


TASTES 


109 


time  and  energy,   and  should  be  cultivated  in  every 

child. 

Two  simple  forms  of  accomplishment  may  well  be  rec- 
ommended for  all  children  except  the  very  few  who  are 
markedly  deficient ;  namely,  singing  and  simple  free-hand 
drawing.  All  good  schools  give  training  in  these  two 
arts,  and  the  home  can  well  cooperate  in  both. 

4.  Good  Reading.  The  modern  world  is  so  much 
concerned  with  books  and  periodicals  that  there  is  no 
need  of  laying  stress  upon  cultivating  the  habit  of  read- 
ing. In  fact,  the  chances  are  that  the  great  majority  of 
educated  people  read  too  much  rather  than  too  little. 
But  the  habit  of  reading  is  one  thing  and  a  taste  for  good 
reading  is  a  very  different  thing.  Unfortunately  the  busi- 
ness ideals  which  so  largely  dominate  the  publisher  do  not 
always  minister  to  the  development  of  good  taste  in  the 
readers.  The  sentimental,  the  spectacular,  that  which 
amuses  and  tickles  the  fancy,  the  extraordinary,  whether 
it  be  true  or  not  —  these  characterize  too  much  of  the 
output  of  our  printing-presses,  and  all  of  these  character- 
istics tend  to  run  to  dangerous  excess.  Two  great  dan- 
gers result  from  this  condition,  —  the  actual  corruption 
of  the  minds  of  youth  by  suggestive  and  immoral  read- 
ing, and  the  loss  of  power  to  concentrate  the  mind  on 
anything  which  calls  for  serious  thought. 

The  taste  for  good  reading  is  inseparable  from  a  taste 
for  good  thinking,  and  home  culture  must  strive  for  both 
ends  at  once.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  provide  good  reading 
for  the  children  in  the  home  and  to  urge  them  to  read  it. 


no 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


To  this  must  be  added  the  active  interest  and  participa- 
tion of  the  parents,  manifested  in  their  own  reading  and 
in  the  discussion  of  subjects  in  which  they  desire  the 
children  to  become  interested. 

It  is  a  great  mistake,  of  course,  —  which,  however,  very 
few  parents  of  this  generation  are  at  all  likely  to  make,  — 
to  expect  small  children  to  take  pleasure  in  mature  litera- 
ture: education  has  come  to  recognize  the  legitimate 
place  of  children's  literature,  and  fortunately  a  very  large 
body  of  excellent  reading  for  children  is  now  available. 
It  is  not  always  so  fully  recognized  that  there  is  educa- 
tional value  in  everything  the  child  reads,  and  that  so 
long  as  the  stories  to  which  he  devotes  himself  have  noth- 
ing positively  bad  in  them,  he  is  likely  to  be  benefited 
by  the  reading.  Every  page  he  reads  is  likely  to  add  to 
his  store  of  words  and  ideas,  and  the  exercise  of  reading 
itself  stimulates  and  increases  the  play  and  vigor  of  his 
mind.  It  need  hardly  be  repeated  here  that  the  child 
who  wants  to  read  when  he  ought  to  be  playing  should 
be  driven  out  of  doors  for  the  good  of  his  body  and  soul. 

5.  Some  Dangers  in  ^Esthetic  Education.  It  is  prob- 
able that  every  bad  habit  involves  a  bad  taste.  Hence, 
what  has  been  said  about  certain  habits  will  throw  light 
upon  unhealthy  tastes.  The  great  weapon  with  which  to 
fight  these  dangers  is  the  filling  of  the  child's  Kfe  and  soul 
with  plenty  of  good,  vigorous,  wholesome  activities  and 
healthy  tastes.  It  may  be  necessary,  however,  to  use 
positive  repression  in  some  cases.  The  taste  for  tobacco 
and  for  gambling  are  two  cases  in  point.    American 


TASTES 


III 


morality  condemns  gambling  throughout,  and  tobacco  in 
boyhood  and  early  youth.  It  is  surely  the  duty  of  the 
parent  to  be  vigilant  and  resolute  in  discovering  and 
crushing  out  either  of  these  two  tastes  in  childhood  or 
youth.  The  taste  for  tobacco  is  fortunately  a  very  un- 
natural one,  the  first  efforts  to  acquire  it  being  usually 
accompanied  by  a  strong  physical  reaction  and  probably 
some  remorse  ;  if  the  father  or  mother  can  put  in  an 
influence  at  this  point,  the  whole  thing  may  be  nipped  in 
the  bud. 

Another  of  the  serious  dangers  in  the  development  of 
the  taste  is  the  development  of  excessive  fondness  for 
certain  things  legitimate  in  themselves ;  and  here  again 
parental  vigilance  must  be  the  remedy.  Some  of  the 
frequent  forms  of  this  evil  are  the  taste  for  candy  and 
sweets,  for  such  amusements  as  cards  and  dancing,  and  for 
overfrequent  attendance  at  theaters  and  entertainments. 
These  excessive  tastes  tend  to  wasting  of  time  and  loss  of 
interest  in  more  important  things,  in  some  cases  to  ill 
health  and  debility  and  to  the  retardation  of  education 
and  development. 

We  have  spoken  frequently  of  aesthetic  education,  but 
have  tried  to  make  it  clear  that  we  do  not  refer  to  the 
kind  of  culture  which  leads  to  over  fastidiousness  and  an 
affected  contempt  and  dislike  of  everything  simple  and 
common.  There  are  not  a  few  unfortunate  and  misguided 
people  who  are  ashamed  to  confess  admiration  for  any- 
thing which  can  be  enjoyed  by  the  uninitiated.  They 
despise  all  ordinary  pictures,  all  simple  and  unpretentious 


112 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


music.  They  demand  absolute  perfection  in  technique, 
and  so  can  find  no  satisfaction  except  in  the  performance 
of  a  virtuoso.  The  chief  purpose  of  aesthetic  education 
is  to  increase  the  capacity  for  aesthetic  enjoyment;  the 
development  of  the  hypercritical  and  fastidious  atti- 
tude, on  the  other  hand,  decreases  the  total  capacity  for 
aesthetic  enjoyment.  It  cannot  be  denied,  of  course,  that 
culture  in  either  art  or  music  will  inevitably  modify  the 
range  of  appreciation  and  render  one  dissatisfied  with 
some  forms  of  art  which  previously  pleased.  Only  let 
it  not  be  forgotten  that  this  is  an  incident  of  aesthetic 
culture,  and  not  its  essence. 


CHAPTER  VI 


The  Personal  Ideal 

'*What  am  I  going  to  be"  is  a  question  that  early  fas- 
cinates the  young  human  being;  about  it  center  much 
thought,  many  yearnings,  hopes,  fears,  and,  best  of  all, 
many  earnest  resolves.  It  is  the  natural  offspring  of  the 
maturing  or  "growing  up''  instinct,  previously  noted. 
The  question  in  its  most  conscious  and  definite  form 
usually  refers  to  vocation,  *' Shall  I  be  farmer,  or  lawyer, 
or  merchant,  or  physician  ?  "  But  it  also  has  a  far  deeper 
meaning  and  content,  "What  sort  of  man  or  woman 
shall  I  be ;  what  kind  of  life  shall  I  propose  and  hew  out  ? '' 
The  answer  the  youth  frames  to  this  latter  question  is  his 
personal  ideal,  and  will  exercise  a  potent  influence  upon 
the  development  of  his  character  and  the  direction  of  his 
conduct.  Toward  it  the  growing  soul  strives,  day  after 
day,  year  after  year ;  its  outlines,  first  existing  only  in  the 
imagination  of  the  heart,  gradually,  almost  impercep- 
tibly impress  themselves  on  the  soul  and  body,  and  mani- 
fest themselves  in  the  outer  life;  "As  a  man  thinketh  in 
his  heart,  so  is  he." 

The  personal  ideal  distinguishes  man  from  lower  crea- 
tures ;  and  its  perfection  and  power  mark  the  high  and 
full  development  of  humanity.  Very  early  it  becomes 
I  113 


114 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


the  directing  influence  in  self-culture,  —  which  is  by  far 
the  most  important  part  of  education;  all  truly  higher 
education  is  self -education ;  the  mission  of  all  training 
from  without  is  to  stimulate  and  aid  and  guide  the  youth 
to  take  charge  of  his  own  culture  and  career.  Conscious 
education  is  always  directed  by  some  sort  of  an  ideal : 
the  school,  the  home,  national  education  are  laboring 
to  mold  men  and  women  into  certain  general  forms  of 
excellence  and  virtue;  the  personal  ideal  is  the  image 
that  the  child  and  youth  forms  of  his  own  possible  self. 

Self-respect  is  the  very  cement  of  character,  without 
which  character  will  not  form  nor  stand ;  a  personal  ideal 
is  the  only  possible  foundation  for  self-respect,  without 
which  self-respect  degenerates  into  vanity  or  conceit,  or  is 
lost  entirely,  its  place  being  taken  by  worthlessness  and 
the  consciousness  of  worthlessness ;  and  that  is  the  end  of 
all  character.  It  is  often  said  that  if  we  do  not  respect 
ourselves  no  one  else  wiU  respect  us;  this  is  rather  a 
dangerous  way  to  put  it ;  let  us  rather  say  that  if  we  are 
not  worthy  of  our  own  respect  we  cannot  claim  the  respect 
of  others.  True  self-respect  is  a  matter  of  being  and 
never  of  mere  seeming.  As  Paulsen  says,  *'It  is  vanity 
that  desires  first  of  all  to  be  seen  and  admired,  and  then, 
if  possible,  really  to  be  something;  whereas  proper  self- 
esteem  desires  first  of  all  to  be  something,  and  then,  if 
possible,  to  have  its  worth  recognized." 

The  personal  ideal  must  have  power  over  our  lives, 
else  it  is  not  an  ideal  at  all,  but  only  an  idea.  The  youth 
must  not  merely  dream  of  strength,  of  wisdom,  of  skill 


THE   PERSONAL   IDEAL 


115 


and  power,  of  honor  and  righteousness,  of  nobility  and 
generosity,  —  he  must  resolve  to  attain  them.  He  must 
see  himself  pursuing  and  achieving,  and  be  inspired  and 
energized  by  the  vision.  Such  a  vision  of  power  is  the  per- 
sonal ideal. 

A  full  account  of  the  personal  ideal  would  necessarily 
cover  every  part  of  human  life.  It  is  quite  clear  also  there 
would  be  the  greatest  variation  in  different  individuals. 
For  the  purpose  of  education,  however,  it  is  worth  while  to 
emphasize  certain  elements  which  should  be  found  in  every 
case.    We  shall  speak  first  of  the  bodily  ideal. 

I .  The  Bodily  Ideal.  We  have  already  spoken  in  pre- 
vious chapters  of  the  inborn  tendency  to  bodily  activity 
and  of  the  exhilaration  and  delight  to  be  found  in  physi- 
cal exercise  and  of  the  habit  and  taste  which  should  be 
developed  from  these  sources.  It  remains  to  add  a  con- 
scious interest  and  rational  pride  in  developing  and  main- 
taining the  highest  degree  of  bodily  perfection.  Every  boy 
and  every  girl  should  grow  up  with  the  ideal  of  a  healthy, 
clean,  and  efficient  body.  He  should  be  taught  the  in- 
timate relation  of  the  body  and  soul,  in  that  the  soul  is 
absolutely  dependent  upon  the  body  both  for  its  knowl- 
edge of  the  outer  universe  through  the  senses,  and  for  its 
power  to  make  itself  felt  in  the  world  through  external 
activity.  As  the  child's  mind  gradually  rises  to  fuller  un- 
derstanding, he  should  be  thoroughly  imbued  with  that 
great  truth  which  is  expressed  figuratively  in  the  apostle's 
words,  "Your  bodies  are  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
The  cleanliness  of  the  body,  of  course,  should  go  farther 


ii6 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


than  the  mere  use  of  soap  and  water,  and  should  include 
the  abhorrence  of  everything  which  could  in  any  way 
pollute  the  body  or  its  organs.  In  this  way  cleanliness 
is  bound  up  with  health,  and  both  naturally  lead  to 
the  third  element  in  the  bodily  ideal,  that  of  vigor  and 
efficiency. 

Fortunately  the  ideal  of  physical  perfection  has  a 
powerful  appeal  to  every  normal  child  and  youth ;  the 
boy  especially  is  extremely  susceptible  to  this  motive; 
he  admires  strength  and  agility  in  others  and  longs  for  it  in 
himself.  As  already  noted,  the  great  fault  of  our  educa- 
tion in  this  respect  is  that  it  trains  the  many  to  be  content 
with  admiring  the  physical  perfection  of  the  few,  and 
neglecting  it  or  despairing  of  it  in  themselves.  The  very 
children  who  most  need  stimulation  in  their  physical  life 
are  comparatively  neglected,  and  are  allowed  to  fall  lower 
and  lower,  not  only  in  their  bodily  health  and  strength,  but 
also  in  their  hopes  and  ambitions  for  physical  perfection. 

It  need  hardly  be  repeated  here  that  the  abundant  and 
healthy  physical  Ufe,  with  the  exhilaration  and  exuberant 
delight  of  bodily  strength  and  vigor,  forms  one  of  the 
most  powerful  safeguards  against  many  of  the  tempta- 
tions and  dangers  that  threaten  boys  and  young  men. 
The  bodily  ideal  is  an  implacable  foe  to  all  forms  of  vice, 
and  especially  to  those  that  more  easily  beset  the  adoles- 
cent youth.  This  ideal  involves  keeping  one's  self,  as  it 
were,  in  training.  The  true  educational  aim  would  be  to 
give  to  every  boy  and  girl  something  of  the  sense  of  re- 
ponsibility  for  keeping  in  training  that  is  felt  so  strongly 


THE  PERSONAL  IDEAL 


117 


by  the  members  of  an  athletic  team.  Such  a  sense  would 
conduce  not  merely  to  higher  physical  development,  but 
would  radiate  its  good  influence  into  all  parts  of  life. 

The  poet  Browning,  himself  throughout  life  an  exam- 
ple of  bodily  vigor  and  enthusiasm,  has  given  us  a  noble 
eulogy  of  the  bodily  ideal  in  a  passage  from  "Saul," 
with  which  we  may  well  sum  up  the  theme  :  — 

"Oh,  our  manhood's  prime  vigor !    No  spirit  feels  waste. 
Not  a  muscle  is  stopped  in  its  playing  nor  sinew  unbraced. 
Oh,  the  wild  joys  of  living !  the  leaping  from  rock  up  to  rock, 
The  strong  rending  of  boughs  from  the  fir-tree,  the  cool  silver 

shock 
Of  the  plunge  in  a  pool's  hving  water,  the  hunt  of  the  bear, 
And  the  sultriness  showing  the  Uon  is  couched  in  his  lair, 
And  the  meal,  the  rich  dates  yellowed  over  with  gold  dust 

divine, 
And  the  locust-flesh  steeped  in  the  pitcher,  the  full  draught  of 

wine, 
And  the  sleep  in  the  dried  river-channel  where  bulrushes  tell 
That  the  water  was  wont  to  go  warbling  so  softly  and  well. 
How  good  is  man's  Ufe,  the  mere  Uving  !  how  fit  to  employ 
All  the  heart  and  the  soul  and  the  senses  forever  in  joy  I  " 

2.  The  Intellectual  Ideal.  Next  comes  the  ideal  of 
good  thinking.  Abraham  Lincoln  tells  somewhere  that 
as  a  boy  when  he  met  an  obscure  or  ambiguous  sentence 
in  his  reading  it  threw  him  into  a  sort  of  rage.  The  fact 
is  that  this  was  simply  a  form  of  instinct  for  clear  think- 
ing which  is  found  in  every  child  and  manifests  itself 
abundantly  to  the  perception  of  the  good  teacher.  Far 
more  important  than  any  particular  piece  of  knowledge, 


ii8 


THE  ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


than  geography  or  arithmetic  or  spelling,  is  this  love  of 
clearness  in  our  mental  life  and  instinctive  hatred  of  con- 
fusion and  obscurity.  Let  the  child  early  learn  to  know 
what  he  knows  clearly  and  definitely,  and  as  soon  as 
possible  let  him  learn  also  how  he  knows  it.  Both 
teacher  and  parent  can  minister  in  the  early  years  of 
inteUigence  to  the  culture  of  this  intellectual  ideal. 

The  great  intellectual  need  of  men  and  women  in  the 
outer  world  is  not  so  much  more  knowledge  as  it  is  better 
knowledge  and  better  thinking.  There  is  much  phil- 
osophy in  the  humorist's  remark,  "It  was  never  my  igno- 
rance that  done  me  up,  but  the  things  I  know'd  that 
wasn't  so."  The  great  enemies  of  intellectual  hfe  are  su- 
perstitition,  gullibility,  and  fallacious  reasoning.  A  mere 
knowledge  of  facts,  important  as  that  is,  is  no  safeguard 
against  these.  A  conscious  desire  and  resolve  to  think 
clearly  is  the  true  remedy. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  this  characteristic  is  pecul- 
iarly important  in  the  citizen  of  a  republic,  and  particu- 
larly so  in  this  complex  modern  world.  Man  is  engaged 
in  a  strenuous  endeavor  to  understand  himself  and  the 
world  in  which  he  lives.  The  problems  that  confront  civ- 
ilized man  to-day,  especially  in  connection  with  indus- 
trial and  social  problems,  will  task  the  best  intelligence 
of  the  future.  Our  national  success  will  depend  largely 
upon  the  development  of  a  generation  of  men  and  women 
who  have  formed  a  love  and  habit  of  clear  thinking  and 
who  can  do  their  part  in  solving  these  problems. 

3.   The  Ideal  of  Honor.     It  would  perhaps  seem  nat- 


THE   PERSONAL   IDEAL 


119 


ural  after  speaking  of  the  bodily  ideal  and  the  intellect- 
ual ideal  to  name  as  a  third  in  the  series  the  moral  ideal. 
We  have  purposely  avoided  this  term  because  we  are 
dealing  with  children,  to  whom  the  word  "moral"  usu- 
ally conveys  either  no  clear  idea  or  a  rather  unpleasant 
one.  That  is,  to  the  boy  the  word  moral  is  Hkely  to 
mean  either  something  very  vague  and  obscure  or  else 
certain  prohibitions  and  negations  which  hinder  him  from 
doing  what  he  would  like  and  not  infrequently  cause  him 
to  be  punished.  We  have  used  instead  a  word  which  has 
a  pecuhar  appeal  to  the  heart  of  youth.  Here,  as  else- 
where, or  rather  more  than  anywhere  else,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  find  the  road  to  the  heart.  What  we  are 
seeking  is  an  ideal,  and  an  ideal,  as  we  have  already 
emphasized,  is  no  mere  notion  or  conception,  and  above 
all  never  can  be  a  repugnant  or  unpleasant  thing,  but 
must  always  have  the  power  to  charm  and  fascinate  the 
one  into  whose  character  it  is  to  enter. 

Both  history  and  romance,  as  well  as  everyday  life, 
give  abundant  illustrations  of  the  power  of  what  men 
call  honor.  At  the  command  of  honor  men  and  women, 
youths,  and  even  children  will  dare  and  endure  the  ut- 
most. One  of  the  most  striking  things  in  school  life  is 
that  schoolboy  honor  which  will  lead  a  pupil  to  obstinate 
defiance  of  authority  and  unhesitating  endurance  of  pun- 
ishment in  order  to  preserve  what  he  considers  good  faith 
with  his  fellows.  Fortunately  the  home  is  seldom  trou- 
bled by  these  strange  conflicts  between  the  moral  sense  of 
childhood  and  the  moral  code  of  the  adult. 


120 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


THE   PERSONAL   IDEAL 


121 


No  one  can  deny  the  difficulty  which  this  conflict  in 
children  and  youth  causes  in  school  life,  but  it  must  still 
be  said  that  this  troublesome  sense  of  honor  is  the  stock 
upon  which  must  be  grafted  the  best  things  in  character. 
The  youth's  sense  of  honor  has  the  two  clear  indispensable 
elements  of  character:  it  has  dynamic  power  and  it 
means  right.  To  ignore  it  is  to  neglect  the  most  precious 
spring  of  righteousness,  to  quarrel  with  it  or  attempt  to 
crush  it  is  fatal  to  all  educational  success.  The  duty  of 
both  parent  and  teacher  is  clear:  on  the  one  hand  to 
cherish  and  guard  this  native  root  of  honor  with  the 
utmost  patience  and  sympathy,  and  on  the  other  hand 
to  enlighten  it  by  all  means  in  our  power. 

This  sense  of  honor  is  the  sense  of  right.  It  is  the 
soul's  instinctive  love  for  the  good,  the  true,  the  com- 
mendable, and  its  instinctive  scorn  of  the  base,  mean,  and 
vile.  The  road  to  perfection  is  through  two  main  pro- 
cesses. First,  the  inteUigence  must  be  opened  to  a  larger 
view :  the  child  sees  and  feels  only  what  is  immediately 
about  him :  he  has  a  keen  sense  of  his  own  interests,  and 
of  the  affairs  and  notions  of  his  playmates,  but  little 
sympathy  for  the  standards  and  ideals  of  mature  life. 
These  juvenile  interests  for  the  time  being  direct  and 
control  his  sense  of  honor  and  right:  it  is  the  duty  of 
education  to  open  his  eyes  to  the  interests  of  others,  es- 
pecially of  older  persons  and  those  remote  from  him. 
The  boys  who  see  no  harm  in  stealing  a  gate  on  Hal- 
lowe'en, or  in  breaking  windows  "for  a  lark,"  may  be 
brought  to  take  a  new  view  when  they  are  impressed  with 


V 


the  annoyance  and  hardship  which  is  caused  to  other 

persons. 

In  the  second  place,  the  child  and  youth  fall  easily  and 
almost  universally  into  a  confusion  between  that  false 
honor  which  cares  only  what  another  thinks  or  says,  and 
the  true  personal  honor  which  cares  first  for  what  we  are. 
It  is  too  true  that  many  a  man  who  would  resent  with  a 
blow  the  epithet  of  "thief"  or  "liar"  will  lie  and  steal 
in  secret  apparently  without  a  qualm  of  conscience.  The 
true  root  of  honor  demands  reality  and  hates  shams. 
The  youth  should  be  taught  to  abhor  and  reject  in  his 
own  heart  everything  which  he  would  resent  in  an  accu- 
sation made  by  another.  He  should  learn  not  to  tolerate 
in  his  own  inner  consciousness  what  he  would  fear  or 
blush  to  have  known  to  friends  or  foes.  This  is  the 
sense  of  personal  honor  that  dominates  and  molds  char- 
acter and  that  endures  the  heaviest  stress  of  life. 

4.  The  Pride  of  the  Workfnan,  A  very  plain  and  prac- 
tical element  in  the  personal  ideal  is  a  just  pride  in  the 
work  of  one's  hands.  Probably  no  one  ever  saw  a  com- 
petent skilled  workman  in  any  calling  who  did  not  look 
upon  the  finished  product  of  his  labor  and  pains  with  lov- 
ing eyes  and  some  warming  of  the  heart.  A  considerable 
part  of  most  lives  must  be  spent  in  work :  and  in  a 
democratic  state  of  society  no  one  can  measure  up  to 
the  full  standards  of  character  unless  he  possesses  effi- 
ciency. The  lack  of  this  element  of  the  personal  ideal 
produces  the  sloven  and  the  bungler,  its  full  develop- 
ment stimulates  effort  and  improvement  and  so  creates 


'^ 


122 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


THE   PERSONAL   IDEAL 


123 


skill,  and  besides  that  it  cheers  and  dignifies  the  long 
hours  and  years  of  toil ;  it  is  the  most  potent  means  to 
turn  drudgery  into  happy  employment.  Both  home  and 
school  can  find  abundant  and  easy  opportunity  to  nour- 
ish this  excellent  quality. 

5.  Some  Dangers  of  the  Personal  Ideal.  It  will  have 
already  risen  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  that  there  are 
serious  perils  along  the  way  that  we  have  been  describ- 
ing. The  bodily  ideal  may  tend  to  produce  the  ex- 
treme type  of  athlete,  or  physical  culturist,  or  even  the 
scented  exquisite,  whose  thoughts  are  largely  devoted 
to  immaculate  physical  perfection.  The  intellectual 
ideal  may  produce  the  pedant,  the  wiseacre,  or  the  bore. 
The  ideal  of  honor  may  tend  to  produce  on  the  one  hand 
the  haughty  cavalier,  or  duelist,  or  on  the  other  hand  the 
extreme  puritan  or  pietist.  Emphasis  on  the  personal 
ideal  in  general  may  produce  egotism  or  even  selfishness. 

The  fact  is  that  all  of  these  are  faults  of  defect  and  the 
remedy  in  every  case  is  fullness  and  roundness  of  devel- 
opment to  prevent  the  excess  of  any  individual  element 
of  character.  The  personal  ideal  itself  must  contain  in 
harmonious  proportion  all  its  necessary  elements,  and 
the  wholesome  personal  ideal  thus  made  up  must  be 
balanced  by  interest  in  others  and  a  sense  that  after  all 
the  perfection  of  one's  own  personality  is  justified  only  by 
the  service  that  one  may  render  to  his  fellow  men,  a  con- 
ception which  forms  the  basis  of  the  next  higher  region  in 
the  elements  of  character,  that  of  the  social  ideal. 

6.   Modesty,     It  will  easily  be  seen  that  modesty,  that 


choice  excellence  in  character,  is  immediately  connected 
with  the  personal  ideal.  The  essence  of  modesty  is  not 
contempt  for  one's  self,  but  rather  a  reasonable  estimate 
of  one's  own  worth,  sobered  and  modified  by  several 
clear  considerations:  first,  the  recognition  of  the  worth 
of  others,  always  remembering  that  being  naturally  prone 
to  overestimate  our  own  value  and  underestimate  the 
value  of  others,  we  should  be  distrustful  and  critical  of 
the  favorable  opinions  which  we  form  concerning  our- 
selves and  of  the  unfavorable  opinions  which  we  form 
concerning  others.  Secondly,  modesty  is  encouraged  by 
comparison  of  what  we  have  attained  with  what  we 
might  have  accomplished  or  still  hope  to  achieve;  in 
this  process  the  possession  of  a  high  personal  ideal,  so  far 
from  tending  to  vanity  or  conceit,  is  the  strongest  basis 
of  genuine  modesty. 


CHAPTER  VII 


Conscience 

The  personal  ideal  in  a  strict  sense  relates  to  the  in- 
dividual's attitude  toward  himself  and  his  own  individual 
credit  and  honor :  it  consists  in  his  being  true  to  himself. 
A  little  later  we  shall  have  to  consider  the  relations  that 
each  of  us  bears  to  his  fellows,  our  social  relations,  as  we 
call  them.  Now  these  are  separate  only  in  our  discussion 
of  them,  whereas  in  real  character  and  life  they  run  into 
one  another  and  blend  inseparably ;  neither  can  ever  be 
richly  and  fully  developed  if  the  other  is  weak  or  defective. 
Between  them,  and  pervading  both,  is  the  element  that  we 
call  conscience,  or  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong  and  of 
obligation  to  do  the  right. 

Wordsworth  calls  duty  the  'daughter  of  the  voice  of 
God ' ;  Kant  describes  it  as  a  categorical  imperative  that 
says  to  every  human  soul.  Thus  must  thou  do  !  Froebel 
speaks  of  an  eternal  law  that  hovers  as  it  were  above  and 
between  two  persons  who  come  into  relation  with  each 
other,  rebuking  when  necessary  the  inclinations  and 
desires  of  one  or  both  of  them,  and  dictating  with  author- 
ity what  both  shall  do.  The  phUosophers  differ  ahnost 
infinitely  in  theories  of  conscience,  and  both  its  origin  and 
its  validity   are  subtle  and  perplexing  questions;    but 

124 


CONSCIENCE 


125 


human  experience,  in  history  and  literature  and  in  com- 
mon life,  has  no  doubt  of  its  existence  and  its  mighty  im- 
port in  human  affairs  and  the  progress  of  the  race. 

Savages,  we  are  told,  have  httle  sense  of  right  and 
wrong,  and  that  little  far  from  agreeing  with  our  stand- 
ards. The  httle  child  beginning  to  talk  and  walk  is  prob- 
ably quite  devoid  of  the  moral  sense,  and  is  led  altogether 
by  impulse  and  spontaneous  interests.  Of  course  he  is 
not  therefore  immoral,  but  simply  nonmoral ;  he  is  not 
bad,  nor  is  he  good ;  he  is  yet  to  become  one  or  the  other, 
or,  rather,  some  of  both.  t 

Leaving  theory  and  debated  points  aside  as  much  as 
possible,  let  us  see  what  we  can  agree  upon  as  to  the  be- 
ginnings of  the  sense  of  ought  in  the  child's  mind.  First, 
it  rises  into  consciousness  through  conflict  between  the 
child's  desires  or  impulses  with  the  order  of  things  in 
which  he  finds  himself,  —  usually  with  the  will  of  his 
parents.  The  power  of  his  elders  and  his  fear  of  them 
create  at  first  a  must;  this  is  probably  the  necessary 
first  step  in  his  moral  development.  It  is  the  stage  in 
which  his  native  impulses  are  checked  and  regulated  by 
an  external  law ;  sometimes  he  resents  and  rebels ;  some- 
times he  yields,  more  or  less  cheerfully ;  but  still  the  law 
is  quite  outside  of  him,  as  is  shown  by  his  tendency  to 
break  it  when  he  finds  himself  alone  or  thinks  that  none 
of  the  representatives  of  the  law  can  know  of  his  deeds. 
The  wise  parent  will  not  be  troubled  or  discouraged  by 
this  stage  of  growth,  but  will  accept  it  as  natural  and  as 
leading  to  something  higher. 


126 


THE    ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


Authority  and  discipline,  firm,  uniform,  dignified, 
kindly,  are  the  means  of  culture  of  this  sense  of  must; 
the  chief  practical  maxim  is  to  be  quite  firm  without  the 
least  unnecessary  violence  or  irritation ;  suaviter  in  modo, 
fortiter  in  re  is  the  true  rule,  —  let  the  manner  be  as  gentle 
and  agreeable  as  possible,  but  see  the  thing  through  to 
the  end. 

From  must  to  ought  is  a  process  of  internalization ;  that 
is,  the  child  gradually  adopts  the  law  into  his  own 
heart,  makes  it  a  part  of  his  permanent  ideas,  and  sub- 
mits his  own  native  impulses,  previously  dominant,  to  the 
authority  of  the  law.  Every  normal  child  proves  the 
existence  of  a  natural  tendency  to  do  just  this  very  thing ; 
very  early  he  begins  to  surprise  his  elders  by  doing,  upon 
occasion  at  least,  quite  wilUngly  and  sometimes  with  an 
air  of  importance  or  self-approbation,  things  that  until 
now  he  had  to  be  compelled  to  do  either  by  force  or  au- 
thority. Especially  does  he  take  great  deHght  in  virtu- 
ous acts  that  for  the  moment  fit  in  with  his  own  plans : 
so  young  do  we  begin  to  suffer  from  mild  hypocrisy; 
then  he  is  fond  of  compoimding  for  sins  he  is  personally 
inclined  to,  by  condemning  the  misdemeanors  of  his  lit- 
tle brother  or  playmate  in  the  most  righteous  indignation. 

It  is  hard  to  doubt  the  universal  presence,  in  very  early 
years,  of  a  profound  and  somewhat  mysterious  reenforce- 
ment  of  the  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  from  the  depths  of 
the  child's  soul.  Many  of  us  can  remember  the  almost 
intolerable  pain  and  darkness  of  soul  that  came  with  the 
sense  of  guilt,  when  we  had  done  something  that  we  knew 


CONSCIENCE 


127 


to  be  contrary  to  the  will  of  father  or  mother,  or  to  the 
estabhshed  order  of  the  house.  The  depth  and  power 
of  this  feehng  is  probably  nature's  index  of  its  vital  im- 
portance in  later  development  and  in  the  affairs  of  human 
life.  This  element  in  the  soul  of  the  child  furnishes  the 
dynamic  or  driving  force  of  the  adult  conscience;  it  is  the 
root  of  the  quality  which  marked  Lincoln  so  strongly  that 
one  said  of  him,  "He  knew  no  fear  except  the  fear  of 

doing  wrong." 

Naturally  the  sense  of  law  arises  through  the  child's 
contact  and  relations  with  those  about  him.  Thus  duty 
is  a  distinctly  social  matter,  and  will  be  much  illuminated 
by  a  consideration  of  social  relations  and  feelings  in  gen- 
eral, in  the  next  chapter.  The  child  soon  begins  to  feel 
the  force  of  the  principle  that  is  best  expressed  in  the 
Golden  Rule ;  it  comes  home  in  a  very  effective  way 
when  he  finds  that  the  best  way  to  get  others  to  do  what 
you  want  them  to  do  for  your  benefit  is  to  be  willing  to  be 
equally  considerate  and  accommodating  toward  them.  So 
develops  the  basic  idea  of  all  ethical  truth,  that  each  one 
must  conduct  himself  in  a  way  that  would  work  out  well 
as  a  rule  for  all;  and  so  gradually  caprice  and  whim, 
impulse  and  desire,  and  all  the  irrational  and  unorgan- 
ized elements  of  the  child's  will  may  be  subordinated  to 
the  law  of  justice. 

Conscience  has  two  sides,  the  feeling  of  right  and  wrong, 
and  intelligent  judgment  between  the  two :  both  of  these 
sides  must  be  cultivated  in  fair  proportion  to  each  other. 
First,  the  tenderness  of  the  child's  heart  regarding  wrong, 


128 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


his  aversion  to  it,  and  the  pangs  of  remorse  he  feels  after 
breaking  the  law  as  he  knows  it,  must  be  cherished  and 
conserved.  Above  all,  he  must  not  get  hardened  against 
repentance  by  being  constantly  in  conflict  with  law  and 
constantly  made  to  feel  that  he  is  a  wrongdoer  :  hence  the 
law  laid  upon  him  must  be  tempered  to  his  small  strength, 
so  that  under  ordinary  circumstances  he  may  have 
strength  to  resist  temptation;  then  guilt  and  the  pain 
of  remorse  will  be  rare  and  exceptional,  and  will  keep 
their  power.  Whenever  guilt  usurps  a  large  place  in 
the  child's  consciousness  it  tends  to  lose  its  sharpness,  — 
and  what  was  first  hated  as  soon  as  seen,  the  little  man, 
like  his  elders,  is  apt  to  ''first  endure,  then  pity,  then 
embrace."  The  stings  of  conscience,  like  all  other  pun- 
ishments, fall  into  impotence  as  soon  as  they  cease  to 
be  rare  and  unusual.  Require  of  the  child  little,  and 
that  comparatively  easy,  and  draw  an  unmistakable  line 
about  that  requirement;  so  may  the  sense  of  law  and 
obHgation  retain  its  most  essential  quahty,  that  of  the  im- 
perative. As  strength  and  knowledge  grow,  the  demands 
upon  the  conscience  may  be  enlarged  and  heightened. 

The  other  side  of  conscience  is  moral  intelligence  to 
know  what  is  right.  This  grows  by  the  same  processes 
as  any  other  form  of  intelligence,  —  by  experience,  in- 
struction, counsel,  and  above  all  by  reflection  and  in- 
dependent thought.  The  first  great  agency  in  this 
development  is  the  common  hfe  of  children  with  each 
other,  and  in  a  less  degree,  with  their  elders.  But  ex- 
perience alone  is  as  poor  a  teacher  for  children  as  for 


CONSCIENCE 


129 


adults :  its  lessons  stand  in  need  of  constant  interpreta- 
tion and  explanation,  and  this  must  be  provided 
largely  by  parents  and  other  educators.  The  boy  who 
has  been  ''sent  to  Coventry"  by  his  playmates  may  have 
gained  for  himself  nothing  but  anger  and  grief  from  the 
experience ;  he  needs  to  be  shown  that  it  was  his  refusal 
or  failure  to  play  the  game  according  to  the  rules  that 
caused  his  expulsion ;  and  that  if  all  behaved  as  he  had 
done  the  whole  game  would  be  ruined.  Sometimes  a 
child  that  is  quite  stuck  in  the  attempt  to  imravel  such  a 
situation,  and  can  do  nothing  but  grieve  or  sulk,  may 
need  only  the  sHghtest  hint  to  set  him  on  his  rational  way 
to  the  true  solution  and  to  a  new  perception  of  social  law. 
Similarly  in  the  child's  relations  to  elders  :  their  require- 
ments, especially  their  prohibitions,  often  seem  like  mere 
tyranny,  with  no  discoverable  purpose  except  to  dash 
his  pleasure  and  check  his  enthusiasm;  this  is  a  fact 
that  no  parent  or  teacher  should  ever  lose  sight  of. 
Yet  the  requirement  has  a  clear,  rational  justification,  and 
intends  the  child's  own  good ;  let  this  be  patiently  and 
lovingly  expounded  to  him,  just  as  fast  and  as  fully  as  his 
mental  capacity  permits.  Take  him  into  your  confidence, 
and  thus  help  him  up  to  a  new  step  in  his  growth  both 
moral  and  intellectual.  Nothing  here  said  is  intended  to 
contradict  the  practical  truth  that  children  must  learn 
to  do  many  things  against  their  natural  impulses  before 
they  can  comprehend  the  reasons  for  the  compulsion; 
and  they  must  often  do  immediately  something  which 
would  take  time  to  explain ;  hence  a  part  of  the  essential 


130 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


training  in  obedience,  as  we  have  pointed  out,  is  prompt 
compliance  with  commands  without  demanding  to  know 
why.  Success  in  obtaining  such  implicit  obedience  is 
greatly  favored  by  the  fullest  consideration  of  the  child's 
growing  intelligence  concerning  conduct. 

The  modest  but  invaluable  virtue  of  reliability  may 
perhaps  be  set  down  as  a  form  of  conscience;  it  is  the 
sense  of  ought  that  holds  a  man  at  his  post  or  his  task 
when  ease  beckons  or  hardship  and  danger  try  to  drive 
him  from  it,  —  and  that  is  reliability.  Such  a  man  is 
also  said  to  be  responsible, — he  can  be  counted  on  to 
answer  for  himself  on  points  of  duty,  simply  because  he 
has  an  inward  monitor  that  checks  him  up  even  more 
sharply  than  do  the  rules  of  occupation,  business,  or 
social  life.  But  reliability  or  responsibility  finds  its  per- 
fection only  when  reenforced  by  the  virtues  of  strength  of 
character,  which  are  to  be  discussed  in  a  later  chapter. 

We  have  said  that  development  in  conscience  is  a  pro- 
cess of  internaHzing ;  the  must  is  a  force  from  without, 
the  ought  is  from  within,  —  or  perhaps  from  above  or 
beyond  the  individual  soul ;  at  least  it  does  not  come  from 
any  visible  outward  authority.  The  sense  of  ought  is 
indissolubly  blended  with  three  great  motives  which  are 
mentioned  elsewhere  in  our  discussion:  first,  with  the 
sense  of  personal  honor,  as  already  said.  Second,  with  the 
sense  of  social  obligation,  of  which  we  shall  speak  in  the 
next  chapter :  by  far  the  greatest  and  most  powerful 
commands  of  the  voice  of  duty  concern  our  relations  to 
others ;  probably  none  of  them  could  possibly  be  limited 


CONSCIENCE 


131 


strictly  to  our  individual  selves,  —  which  indeed  are  after 
all  only  an  abstraction  and  not  real  entities.  Third, 
duty  tends  always,  as  character  broadens,  to  be  dis- 
solved into  love ;  the  noblest  souls,  saints  and  martyrs  and 
heroes  of  self-sacrifice,  those  who  do  their  duty  most 
abundantly,  are  least  conscious  of  any  compulsion,  but 
act  in  joyful  freedom,  through  love  of  their  fellows  and 
the  absorbing  desire  to  do  them  good.  And  what  is  writ 
so  large  in  these  supreme  souls  is  a  universal  experience 
in  the  Hfe  of  man :  the  Httle  child  does  many  things  first 
from  absolute  compulsion,  then  from  fear  or  dread,  later 
from  a  coercing  sense  of  duty,  often  sadly  against  his  own 
preference;  later  he  will  do  these  same  things,  and  far 
greater  and  more  self-sacrificing  ones,  in  complete  freedom, 
with  every  counter  impulse  quite  abolished,  and  with  a 
heart  full  of  joy  in  the  deed  and  the  good  it  is  intended 
to  work  out.  Every  act  that  can  be  transferred  from  the 
realm  of  duty  to  that  of  love  is  a  step  upward  toward 
that  perfect  inner  freedom  that  is  the  goal  of  man's  moral 
evolution.  This  of  course  is  one  of  the  peculiar  messages 
of  Christianity ;  when  Plato  in  the  famous  myth  of  the 
men  in  the  cave  seeks  to  send  the  educated  back  to  do 
their  duty  in  enlightening  their  fellows  still  in  darkness,  he 
finds  no  other  motive  except  legislative  enactment  and 
civil  authority ;  and  those  whom  he  must  thus  coerce 
are  the  choicest  spirits  of  his  commonwealth;  how  dif- 
ferent the  moral  attitude  of  the  great  apostle  when  he 
explains  his  boundless  self-sacrifice  by  saying  that  'Hhe 
love  of  Christ  constrains  him.'* 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Social  Ideal 

Education  may  be  briefly  summed  up  as  the  process  of 
enhancing  the  value  of  the  individual  and  binding  him 
to  the  race.  Thus  far  in  our  study  of  the  essentials  of 
character  we  have  dealt  mainly  with  individual  worth, 
touching  nevertheless  frequently,  either  expressly  or  by 
impHcation,  upon  social  relations.  Now  we  turn  defi- 
nitely to  the  social  relation ;  we  need  not  be  surprised  if 
we  find  here  constant  reference  to  the  elements  of  in- 
dividual character,  and  come  to  reahze  that  individual 
worth  and  social  character  are  inseparably  finked  and 
cannot  approach  perfection  except  as  they  develop  side 
by  side.  It  ought  also  to  become  plain  that  aU  morality 
worth  the  name  is  based  upon  social  relations,  and  really 
consists  in  right  thinking  and  right  conduct  toward  those 
with  whom  we  in  any  way  come  in  contact. 

While  the  social  feefings  show  themselves  at  the  very 
earfiest  period  of  fife  and  never  cease  to  grow  under  normal 
conditions,  yet  they  rise  into  striking  prominence  in  the 
period  of  early  adolescence,  and  we  shall  therefore  have 
that  period  primarily  in  mind  in  this  chapter. 

From  the  beginning  of  our  discussion  we  have  been 
graduaUy  risuig  from  the  instinctive  and    mechanical 

132 


THE   SOCIAL   IDEAL 


^33 


Strata  of  character,  such  as  native  tendencies,  disposition, 
habit,  into  the  higher  realms  of  conscious  and  defiberate 
life.    The  social  ideal  is  more  than  any  previous  element 
imbued  with  consciousness,  and  in  deafing  with  it  we 
shaU  find   feefing  and  instinct  constantly  rising  into 
thought  and  reason.     It  would  be  impossible  to  isolate 
them  even  in  discussion,  and  in  the  actual  development 
they  grow  side  by  side  in  intimate  union.    This  social 
development  and  culture  we  shaU  consider  under  three 
heads :  first,  certain  great  truths  that  underfie  aU  social 
relations  and  therefore  aU  truly  human  fife :  next,  social 
inteUigence,  or  an  understanding  of  the  detafis  of  the 
social  situations  in  which  we  are  to  five,  so  far  as  we  need 
to  know  these  detafis  in  order  to  know  what  is  right  and 
what  is  wrong  in  our  social  conduct;    and,  third,  the 
widening  of  our  native  impulse  of  affection  to  take  in  aU 
the  chfidren  of  men,  as  far  as  we  enter  into  relations  with 
them  in  any  way  whatsoever. 

I.  Basic  Truths  of  Human  Life}  The  deepest  of  all 
truths  ui  human  fife  is  the  essentially  social  nature  of 
man:  that  '^no  man  liveth  unto  himself,"  but  that,  to 
use  another  phrase  from  the  same  writer,  ''we  are  aU 
members  one  of  another."  These  are  no  mere  figures  of 
speech,  but  are  statements  of  fact ;  he  who  fives  unto 
himself  ceases  to  be  a  man  and  lapses  uito  a  mere  ani- 
mal in  human  form;  in  so  far  as  any  human  individ- 
ual cuts  himself  off  from  his  feUows,  just  so  far  does 

1  See  "  The  High  School's  Cure  of  Souls,"  Educational  Review,  April, 
1908,  pp.  366-372. 


134 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


THE   SOCIAL   IDEAL 


135 


he  fall  below  the  perfect  standard  of  humanity.  Let 
any  one  try  the  experiment  of  turning  his  attention  to  his 
own  inner  life  and  stripping  away  all  that  is  social  in  its 
nature  and  origin :  all  memories  and  feelings  concerning 
parents,  friends,  books,  civic  and  national  life,  all  that  in 
any  way  comes  from  others.  What  is  left?  Certainly 
not  the  soul  of  a  man  or  woman,  but  at  best  some  poor, 
blind,  obscure,  subhuman  consciousness. 

Equally  true  is  it  that  we  constantly  touch  each  other's 
lives :  my  deeds  and  my  fate  affect  you,  and  yours  affect 
me,  inevitably  and  profoundly.  Most  deeply  is  this  true 
of  all  deeds  and  experiences  that  are  felt  as  distinctly 
moral,  and  as  springing  from  character  or  bearing  upon  it. 
Crime  and  virtue  alike  radiate  their  influence  upon  those 
in  any  way  bound  to  the  doer ;  fortune  and  disaster  never 
fall  upon  the  immediate  victim  alone,  but  often  mean  as 
much  or  even  more  to  some  one  attached  to  him. 

But  all  this,  while  perhaps  always  a  profitable  theme, 
needs  no  long  exposition  to  men  and  women  who  have 
lived  and  have  reflected  on  life.  The  child,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  surprisingly  blind  to  it.  One  of  his  most  char- 
acteristic expressions  is  *'I  don't  care!"  in  regard  to  the 
wishes,  requests,  opinions,  and  even  welfare  of  others. 
Moreover,  he  is  prone  to  think  himself  independent  of  the 
help  and  sympathy  of  those  about  him,  except,  indeed, 
so  far  as  the  more  material  needs  are  concerned.  The 
small  boy  reading  ''Robinson  Crusoe,"  —  or,  still  better, 
"Swiss  Family  Robinson,"  with  its  comfortable  and 
untroubled   flow,  —  dreams  with    unalloyed    delight    of 


being  cast  upon  a  desert  island,  where  he  might  escape 
all  the  tedious  and  monotonous  details  of  home  and  school 
life,  and  revel  in  the  outdoor  activities  that  appeal  so 
strongly  to  his  boyish  heart.     Crusoe's  passionate  yearn- 
ing to  escape  from  the  island  and  return  to  home  and 
friends  the  lad  simply  cannot  imderstand ;   he  would  de- 
sire nothing  so  much  as  just  to  stay  there.    Now  there 
is  nothing  unnatural  in  all  this ;  if  our  boy  should  some- 
how be  actually  separated  from  home  and  parents  even 
for  a  few  hours  and  in  a  far  less  trying  place  than  Crusoe's 
island,  his  poor  little  heart  would  be  almost  broken. 
That  very  feeling  is  the  spring  or  source  which  is  to  lead 
naturally,  with  proper  guidance  and  enlightenment,  to 
the  full  ripeness  of  social  intelligence  and  sympathy. 
But  the  guidance  and  enlightenment  cannot  be  dispensed 
with. 

A  very  simple  illustration  may  be  taken  from  a  frequent 
occurrence  in  school  life,  and  the  case  is  one  that  will 
enter  into  the  experience  of  every  school  principal,  es- 
pecially in  the  high  school.    A  lad  of  fourteen  or  fifteen 
wants  to  leave  school ;  why  ?     'He  wants  to  go  to  work,' 
or  'he  doesn't  like  school,'  or  any  one  of  half  a  dozen  other 
reasons,  —  none  of  them,   by  the  way,  in  themselves 
blameworthy.     "What  do  your  father  and  mother  think 
about  it?"    "Well,   they  want  me   to  go   to  school; 
Father  says  he  wants  me  to  go  through  high  school  and  go 
to  college."    All  this  with   many  variations  in  various 
cases.     "How  will  your  father  and  mother  feel  if  you 
insist  on  quitting  school  ?"    As  he  will  honestly  tell  you, 


136 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


THE   SOCIAL   IDEAL 


137 


this  simple  question  has  not  entered  the  boy's  head,  — 
he  has  been  too  much  absorbed  by  the  hot  ambitions  and 
eager  desires  of  youth.  Yet  he  only  needs  a  word  to  set 
him  thinking  in  a  new  and  vital  direction.  For  whether 
the  conversation,  of  which  we  have  given  just  a  hint, 
keeps  the  lad  in  school  or  not  is  a  minor  consideration 
(although  the  writer  has  known  more  than  one  case  in 
which  it  did) ;  far  more  important  is  its  almost  inevitable 
influence  in  helping  the  lad  to  take  an  upward  step  in  his 
feeling  and  comprehension  of  the  basic  conditions  of 
human  life.  The  thought  that  his  conduct  andhis  wel- 
fare must  inevitably  enrich  or  impoverish  Uie  lives  of  those 
nearest  and  dearest  to  him,  —  this  U  dear,  and  may  work 
great  good  in  his  Ufe  and  character ;  wid,  better,  it  may 
easily  start  a  train  of  thought  and  fcding  that  may  dcqx^o 
his  whole  social  nature.^ 

The  most  important  point  in  th<J  foregdng  illustration 
is  the  fact  that  the  incident  in  the  boy*^^  life  might  easfly 
have  passed  over  without  stirring  a  ripple  on  the  surface 
of  his  social  consciousness ;  mdeed,  it  might  even  luve 
been  so  treated  by  both  home  and  school  as  to  blunt  the 
boy's  feeUng  toward  others  and  hinder  the  opeilil^;  of  his 
social  intelligence.  Home  and  school  life  arc  full  of  oc- 
casions for  the  teaching  of  social  interdependence  and  re- 
sulting social  duty.  History  and  literature  abo  abound 
with  examples  of  this  basic  principle  of  life ;  but  through 
it  all  the  child  is  very  much  in  the  condition  of  him  who 

1  See  a  wonderful  passage  in  Rousseau's  **En5le,'*  pp.  ajS-iiO  {V^ynt'% 
translation,  Appleton,  1901). 


read  the  Scriptures,  but  could  not  understand,  for  ''no 
man  explained  it  to  him.''  And  yet  we  dare  assert  that 
for  his  own  fullness  of  life,  and  for  his  usefulness  to  his 
fellows,  no  element  of  character  is  more  essential  than  a 
profound  and  all-pervading  sense  of  this  great  truth, 
that  we  are  indeed  'members  one  of  another, '  and  cannot, 
if  we  would,  live  unto  ourselves. 

The  second  great  truth  of  human  life  is  the  debt  of 
the  individual  to  the  community  and  the  race;  for  from 
them  he  receives  life  itself,  and  all  that  makes  that  life 
worth  while.  The  educative  form  of  this  truth  is  the 
debt  of  the  young  to  their  elders  and  to  the  p«i;<^t,  and 
accordingly  we  consider  It  in  tlits  Ught.  Childhood  re- 
ceives from  the  elder  generation  the  most  la\ish  gifts 
that  life  knows  anything  about.  Born  helpless,  and 
dependent  for  years,  the  young  human  being  would  be 
an  intolerable  burden  to  be  inevitably  cast  off  and  perish, 
were  it  not  for  the  redeemb^  dement  of  parental  love 
and  devotion.  Neither  is  the  motix^e  of  parenthood  by 
any  means  confined  to  actual  fathers  and  mothers,  nor 
restricted  in  its  application  to  children  according  to 
the  flesh;  rather  h  it  racial  and  spiritual:  all  normal 
grown  men  and  women  are  moved  to  concern  themfvclvcs 
on  occasion  for  the  welfare,  and  especially  the  happy 
development,  of  children  or  youth.  The  sacrifice  and 
devotion  of  the  home  are  supfdesnented  by  the  nurture 
and  education  bestowed  fredy^  and  in  the  main  gladly, 
by  the  community. 

Strangely,  a^  it  may  seem  at  first  glance^  yet  in  fact 


I 


138 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


inevitably,  the  child  has  by  nature  no  conception  of  this 
second  great  social  truth :  it  is  perhaps  even  less  Hkely 
to  dawn  upon  him  spontaneously  than  the  first.   Especially 
as  he  feels  strong  upon  him  the  sense  of  maturing  powers 
—  in  early  adolescence,  and  when  he  begins  to  grasp  a 
man's  work  in  the  world  —  is  he  likely  to  think  of  the 
world  as  his  legitimate  possession,  and  upon  whatever  he 
can  seize,  in  the  form  of  property,  power,  privilege,  or 
pleasures,  as  his  fair  booty.    The  attitude  of  most  young 
men  toward  money  is  a  familiar  case:    few  indeed  dis- 
tinguish between  getting  and  earning,  or  concern   them- 
selves seriously  over  the  question  whether  they  are  ren- 
dering a  fair  and  honorable  equivalent  in  service  for  what 
they  receive  in  money  and  the  things  that  money  buys. 
Too  often  they  behave  as  if   they  really  beUeved  the 
miserable  fallacy  of  "The  world  owes  me  a  li\dng,''  instead 
of  realizing  that  up  to  date  they  are  deeply  in  debt  to 
family,  school,  church,  and  state,  for  years  of  benefits 
without  any  return  on  their  part. 

In  many  cases  the  child  grows  through  youth  into  man- 
hood and  never,  until  he  has  children  of  his  own,  does  he 
get  a  glimmer  of  appreciation  of  the  almost  boundless 
devotion  and  self-denial  involved  even  in  very  imperfect 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  parenthood.  And  recognition  of 
the  rather  more  obscure  social  debt  —  the  debt  to  the 
community  for  free  institutions,  education,  general  cul- 
ture and  progress  —  often  never  comes,  but  the  individ- 
ual ends  his  life  without  the  touch  of  this  great  unifying 
and  stimulating  conception. 


THE   SOCIAL   IDEAL 


139 


In  this  matter  we  might  well  take  a  lesson  from  the  an- 
cestor worship  so  frequently  found  in  so-called  heathen  re- 
ligions ;  for  the  debt  of  youth  is  of  course  to  those  who  have 
gone  before,  beginning  with  the  immediate  parents  and 
elders  still  living  and  working,  and  running  back  through 
all  the  generations  of  the  past  which  have  labored  for  the 
elevation  of  the  race  or  the  community.  Yet  probably 
few  of  us,  youth  or  adults,  have  any  real  sense  of  owing 
any  thing  personally  to  Washington  or  Lincoln,  to  Pat- 
rick Henry  or  Horace  Mann,  to  say  nothing  of  John 
Robinson  and  Miles  Standish,  or  Socrates  and  Epictetus. 

We  have  used  the  word  debtj  but  it  must  be  clear  that 
there  is  nothing  slavish  or  depressing  in  the  indebtedness 
involved.  It  is  purely  a  debt  of  honor  on  both  sides: 
parents  and  elders  give  freely,  hoping  for  no  recompense 
to  themselves;  they  give  because  they  love,  and  they 
love  to  give,  and  find  their  best  joy  in  loving  service  and 
tender  nurture  of  the  younger  generation.  So  the  feeling 
of  debt  on  the  part  of  the  youth  is  rightly  one  of  joyful 
gratitude,  and  enthusiastic  resolve  to  live  worthy  of  the 
benefits  received  freely;  the  motive  is  not  compulsion, 
but  rather  noblesse  oblige  in  its  finest  form. 

All  this  leads  us  most  naturally  to  the  third  great 
ethical  idea  —  the  ideal  of  service,  "Freely  ye  have  re- 
ceived; freely  give."  The  past  pours  out  its  treasures 
for  us :  it  is  for  us  to  pass  on  the  benefits  to  the  future. 
Thus  each  man  and  each  generation  is  a  link  in  the 
eternal  unity  of  the  human  race,  receiving  the  light  and 
power  of  life  through  heredity  and  education  and  pass- 


I 


140 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


ing  it  on  through  parental  devotion  and  varied  benefi- 
cent activity. 

The  ideal  of  service,  based  first  on  a  grateful  sense  of 
benefit  received,  is  reenforced  by  the  sense  of  honorable 
obHgation,  which  springs  into  ready  flame  in  the  heart  of 
youth.  The  lad  would  be  stung  to  the  quick  if  accused 
of  shirking  in  the  football  game  or  the  tasks  of  the  summer 
camp ;  the  same  sense  of  honor  is  the  strongest  force  in 
social,  economic,  and  civil  or  political  duty.  Let  the 
unearned  dollar  or  the  undeserved  preferment  be  scorned 
and  resented  as  are  the  imputations  of  shirking  the  obli- 
gations of  the  common  occupations  of  boyhood. 

Finally,  the  ideal  of  grateful  service  as  the  only  honor- 
able return  for  benefits  received  should  have  power  just 
in  proportion  to  those  benefits:  it  should  appeal  most 
powerfully  to  the  most  favored.  First,  one  is  tempted 
to  say,  to  those  who  have  inherited  wealth ;  and  yet  one 
feels  little  hope  or  confidence  in  the  appeal.  The  truth  is 
that  the  mere  inheritance  of  wealth  is  seldom  a  real  bene- 
fit, and  more  often  paves  the  downward  path  for  the  in- 
dividual and  the  family.  Doubtless  such  inheritance  is 
potentially  an  advantage,  and  constitutes  a  great  obliga- 
tion ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  will  usually  cause  degen- 
eration in  the  holder  and  loss  of  all  social  usefulness  unless 
it  is  accompanied  by  a  high  degree  of  the  right  kind  of 
culture  and  spiritual  training;  accordingly  we  pass  to 
those  in  general  who  have  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  higher 
education,  —  whether  rich  or  not  in  this  world's  goods ; 
on  them,  above  all  others,  lies  the  debt  of  youth,  and  the 


THE   SOCIAL   IDEAL 


141 


obligation  of  service  in  return.  No  inheritance  so  surely 
springs  from  unselfish  devotion  in  the  past  as  a  good  edu- 
cation: a  man  may  gather  money  for  his  own  narrow 
and  selfish  satisfaction,  and  then  drop  it  grudgingly  out 
of  his  death-stricken  grasp  into  the  hands  of  heirs  for 
whom  he  cares  nothing  or  whom  he  even  hates.  But  the 
effort  and  sacrifice  that  have  built  up  the  possibilities  of 
higher  education,  laboring  through  all  the  ages  of  progress 
toward  that  end,  have  been  inspired  by  the  most  unselfish 
motives  known  to  the  human  heart.  Education  is  essen- 
tially altruistic  —  its  genius  is  most  completely  expressed 
in  the  words  of  the  Greatest  Teacher:  "I  am  come  that 
they  might  have  life,  and  that  they  might  have  it  more 
abundantly." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  higher  education  exhibits  a  vast 
amount  of  indifference  to  these  obhgations  and  not  a  little 
flagrant  ingraritude :  for  the  latter,  consider  the  cases  of 
men  who  have  received  the  most  liberal  education  from  the 
generosity  of  the  state,  including  often  both  general  cul- 
ture and  professional  training,  and  then  have  turned  the 
sharpened  weapons  thus  acquired  against  the  very  com- 
munities that  had  fostered  their  growth.  Yet  these  are 
far  less  important  to  our  present  consideration  than  the 
vast  number  of  well  meaning  and  honorable  men  and 
women  who  go  out  from  higher  institutions  simply  im- 
conscious  and  imthinking,  because  the  idea  of  a  special 
social  obHgation  has  never  been  properly  brought  to  their 
minds,  nor  the  sense  of  service  duly  stimulated. 
Two  facts  should  be  clearly  taught  to  the  youth  above 


142 


THE    ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


the  elementary  grades :  first,  that  schools,  colleges,  uni- 
versities, professional  schools,  do  not  grow  like  trees  in  the 
forest,  but  are  the  results  of  centuries  of  development, 
always  made  possible  by  disinterested  service  and  de- 
voted efforts ;  that  human  knowledge  itself  is  an  inherit- 
ance from  devoted  and  inspired  labors,  and  that  educa- 
tional institutions  are  the  fruit  of  the  loving  thought  of 
earlier  generations  for  us  as  their  posterity.  Moreover, 
this  idea  must  include  the  present,  and  embrace  the  work 
that  goes  on  in  every  progressive  community  for  better 
schools  and  general  educational  conditions.  These  facts 
are  more  important  than  half  the  present  content  of  the 
curriculum,  and  can  be  dealt  with  in  a  very  few  hours 
every  year. 

Then  every  youth  in  the  ranks  of  higher  education,  — 
and  higher  education  begins  in  the  high  school,  —  should 
be  famiUarized  with  the  fact  that  he  is  a  selected  and 
privileged  individual :  for  every  boy  of  fifteen  or  sixteen 
who  sits  in  a  high  school,  there  are  several  of  similar  age 
who  are  working  for  their  daily  bread;  and  of  course 
every  year  of  advancement  increases  the  number  who  are 
shut  out,  and  increases  the  degree  of  selectness  and  privi- 
lege. The  high  school  student  is  ripe  for  the  plain  ethical 
suggestion  that  such  peculiar  advantages  create  special 
social  responsibilities ;  he  will  sit  up  straight  and  take  a 
new  view  of  life  as  he  hears  the  truth  set  forth.  It  is  a 
sad  fact  that  if  the  educational  duty  of  presenting  these 
facts  is  delayed  until  the  college  years,  many  of  the  young 
people  will  be  found  already  to  have  hardened  their  hearts 


THE    SOCIAL   IDEAL 


143 


against  the  moral  appeal.  If  the  proper  beginning  has 
been  made  in  high  school  years  the  college  period  offers  the 
opportunity  for  the  finest  and  loftiest  development  of  a 
social  spirit  that  may  dominate  the  whole  career,  for  both 
noble  happiness  and  the  richest  social  usefulness. 

2.  Social  Intelligence.  Head  and  heart  must  always 
unite  to  make  up  human  character :  intelligence  without 
goodness  is  a  menace,  and  goodness  without  intelligence 
is  bhnd  and  helpless.  One  of  the  most  perplexing  facts 
in  history  is  the  truth  that  the  children  of  this  world  are 
so  often  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  children  of 
fight.  The  need  of  both  wisdom  and  goodness  is  most 
clearly  seen  in  social  relations,  for  instinct  is  quite  un- 
able either  to  solve  the  problems  involved,  or  to  furnish 
grace  to  carry  a  solution  into  effect;  only  educated  reason, 
furnished  with  abundant  knowledge,  and  cultivated  hu- 
man sympathy  can  avail  here.  And  it  is  clear  that 
social  problems  He  immediately  in  the  path  of  our  prog- 
ress in  this  day  and  age.  While,  then,  in  the  interest 
of  clearness,  we  shaU  talk  of  social  inteUigence  and  social 
sympathy  separately,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
two  must  never  be  separated  in  the  culture  of  human 
character,  but  must  always  grow  side  by  side,  in  con- 
stant unity  and  interrelation ;  only  so  will  they  coalesce 
and  cooperate  in  perfect  human  fife. 

First,  all  must  possess  a  reasonable  degree  of  economic 
intelligence.  Money  and  "business''  form  part  of  all 
fives,  and  the  most  extensive  and  prominent  part  of  very 
many  fives;  it  is  impossible  that  anyone  should  fiveweU 


144 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


in  modem  society  without  a  fair  comprehension  of  the 
truth  concerning  these  things.  First  comes  the  idea 
already  suggested,  of  the  vast  difference  between  the 
mere  getting  of  money  and  goods  and  the  genuine  earn- 
ing of  money  by  giving  a  real  return  in  valuable  service 
to  the  community.  This  idea  should  be  thoroughly  ex- 
plained to  the  youth,  and  become  an  unforgettable  and 
persistent  part  of  his  thinking.  Money,  he  should  be 
shown,  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  counter  or 
symbol,  representing  on  one  side  human  labor,  and  on 
the  other  the  satisfaction  of  human  needs ;  he  should  see 
vividly  that  the  production  of  material  goods  costs  toil, 
struggle,  exhaustion,  and  even  bodily  injury  or  death. 
These  are  facts  without  which  no  one  can  think  clearly  or 
safely  on  questions  concerning  the  use  and  consumption 
of  wealth.  He  should  also  be  seized  with  the  fact  that 
money,  or  the  things  that  money  buys,  can  in  a  marvel- 
ous way  mitigate  or  banish  many  forms  of  pain,  sorrow, 
and  trouble,  especially  in  case  of  the  weak  and  helpless, 
of  widows  and  orphans,  of  the  overworked  and  the 
underfed,  of  the  sick  and  afflicted. 

The  most  dangerous  fallacies  and  abuses  of  our  own  day, 
and  possibly  of  all  times,  concern  what  is  known  as  busi- 
ness: business,  in  the  common  sense  of  the  term,  has  a 
constant  tendency  to  run  into  conflict  with  the  honor  and 
truthfulness  of  business  men,  and  with  the  health,  hap- 
piness, and  character  of  men  and  women  and  even  chil- 
dren. Two  great  economic  truths  form  the  remedy  for 
all  these  fallacies :  first,  that  business  exists  for  the  sake 


THE   SOCIAL   IDEAL 


I4S 


of  human  life,  and  that  no  human  life  can  ever  exist  for 
the  sake  of  business  ;  that  business  is  accordingly  justi- 
fied only  as  it  adds  to  the  richness  and  satisfaction  of  life. 
Second,  that  the  interests  of  business  itself,  except  when 
taken  in  the  narrowest,  most  selfish,  and  most  imintelli- 
gent  sense,  coincide  with  the  interests  of  life  in  general. 
Particularly  it  must  be  shown  that  there  is  no  conflict 
between  moral  principle  and  business  principles:  that 
while  some  one  individual  banker  or  grocer  or  contractor 
may  profit  for  a  time  by  dishonesty  and  chicanery,  yet 
business  as  a  whole,  the  business  of  the  community,  must 
necessarily  be  damaged  by  such  methods :  and  that  the 
business  of  the  community  can  prosper  only  by  means  of 
honesty  and  the  square  deal.  In  other  words,  that  many 
so-called  ^'business  methods"  are  the  most  unbusiness- 
like in  the  world,  leading  always  to  loss  on  the  whole,  and 
often  to  fearful  disaster  and  destruction  of  life  and  prop- 
erty. Fortunately  also  the  business  world  furnishes  a 
good  array  of  disaster  even  to  the  crooked  individual 
himself;  and  when  he  does  come  down,  great  is  likely 
to  be  his  fall,  in  this  world's  goods  and  in  the  more  pre- 
cious things  of  life. 

All  this  means  the  widening  of  the  youth's  horizon  on 
all  questions  touching  the  production,  distribution,  and 
consumption  of  wealth,  so  that  he  may  grasp  once  for  all 
the  truth  that  every  economic  question  has  its  ethical 
side,  to  neglect  which  is  to  be  shallow  and  narrow  in  one's 
thinking.  He  is  to  be  deeply  impressed  with  the  utter 
difference    between    social   parasites   and   vampires,  no 


H^j 


146 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


matter  what  their  wealth  or  position,  who  suck  the  life 
blood  of  the  community  without  giving  any  benefit  in 
return,  and  the  social  member  who,  whether  humble  or 
eminent,  gives  an  honest  man's  service  for  a  fair  remu- 
neration. 

No  argument  is  required  for  the  necessity  of  intelligence 
concerning  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  citizen^  —  what  he 
may  fairly  expect  from  his  government,  and  what  he 
justly  owes  in  civic  and  poHtical  duty.  There  is  much 
reason  to  think  that  repubhcs  in  general,  and  our  own  in 
particular,  tend  to  overemphasize  the  rights  of  the  citi- 
zens, at  the  expense  of  the  right  of  the  state;  conse- 
quently education  is  called  upon  to  do  what  it  can  to  cor- 
rect this  error  and  impress  the  young  citizen  with  his 
obhgations  rather  than  his  privileges.  Fortunately  the 
study  of  civics  in  schools  is  rapidly  occupying  the  field  of 
education  for  citizenship:  no  single  educational  move  is 
at  present  more  positively  encouraging  than  this,  and  we 
may  well  hope  for  its  further  progress  and  for  beneficent 
results,  sorely  needed,  in  our  public  affairs. 

We  cannot  too  often  remind  ourselves  that  liberty  and 
wisdom  must  go  forward  hand  in  hand,  and  that  wisdom 
is  not  knowledge  in  general  nor  discursive  erudition,  but 
definite  knowledge  and  intelligence  relating  to  the  partic- 
ular tasks  to  be  performed.  One  of  the  most  dangerous 
mistakes  of  educational  thought  and  practice  is  the  ap- 
plication of  the  general  culture  idea  to  the  work  of  civic 
education :  how  little  general  culture  avails  against  special 
training  is  seen  in  the  helplessness  of  the  average  college 


THE   SOCIAL   IDEAL 


147 


graduate  in  a  political  struggle  against  the  generally 
ignorant  but  poUtically  sophisticated  ^'ward  heeler"  and 
his  ilk.  No  vahd  reason  can  be  given  why  the  school 
should  not  discard  a  great  mass  of  useless  erudition,  — 
from  the  first  grade  to  the  university,  —  in  order  to  make 
room  for  an  adequate  training  in  civic  knowledge  and  a 
political  habit  of  mind.  The  greatest  weakness  of  the 
American  educated  man,  as  a  general  rule,  is  the  lack  both 
of  this  knowledge  and  of  the  habit  of  turning  his  mind  to 
the  problems  of  what  is  called  practical  poUtics. 

As  to  the  content  of  this  civic  education,  any  good  text- 
book of  school  civics  will  give  a  fair  idea ;  with  only  this 
repeated  suggestion,  that  the  young  citizen  needs  much 
preception  on  the  duties  of  the  citizen  and  rather  less  on 
his  rights.  Among  other  topics  may  be  mentioned  par- 
ticularly the  citizen's  relation  to  law,  both  as  to  making 
the  laws  through  the  election  of  representatives,  and  obey- 
ing the  laws  when  made ;  one  cannot  avoid  here  the  bitter 
thought  that  the  American  people  are  charged  by  their 
own  best  authorities  with  being  the  most  lawless  nation  in 
the  civilized  world.  Instruction  is  also  necessary  in  more 
particular  public  duties,  such  as  jury  service,  payment 
of  taxes,  and  then,  of  course,  the  obligations  of  public 
office. 

Doubtless  the  idea  will  be  put  down  by  most  people 
as  utterly  Utopian,  but  we  cannot  pass  this  subject  with- 
out urging  the  desirability  of  requiring  a  modest  degree  of 
civic  intelUgence  as  an  absolute  prerequisite  to  full  citi- 
zenship, and  especially  to  the  exercise  of  the  franchise. 


148 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


Only  the  most  superficial  mind  fails  to  recognize  the 
franchise  as  a  duty  and  a  privilege,  and  not  as  a  right: 
the  only  rational  inference  is  that  it  should  be  vested  in 
those  who  are  competent  to  exercise  it  wisely,  and  in  them 
only.  Certainly  nothing  could  stimulate  the  study  of  civic 
and  political  affairs  among  the  young  more  than  the  knowl- 
edge that  an  intelligent  acquaintance  with  these  subjects 
was  the  only  stepping-stone  to  full  enfranchisement  and 
the  ballot.  Pitifully  inadequate  as  are  the  existing 
statutory  limitations  on  naturalization  and  the  franchise, 
yet  some  of  them  may  be  considered  as  possible  forecasts 
of  a  genuine  and  rational  safeguarding  of  the  fundamental 
power  of  republican  government. 

Then  perhaps  it  might  be  well  for  the  young  American, 
like  the  young  Athenian,  to  be  inducted  into  full  citizen- 
ship with  some  solemn  ceremony  of  initiation,  and  to  take 
the  oath  of  civic  loyalty  in  some  such  words  as  the  young 
Greek  used:  "I  will  never  disgrace  these  sacred  arms, 
nor  desert  my  companion  in  the  ranks.  ...  I  will  trans- 
mit my  fatherland,  not  only  not  less,  but  greater  and 
better,  than  it  was  transmitted  to  me.  I  will  obey  the 
magistrates  who  may  at  any  time  be  in  power.  I  will 
both  observe  the  existing  laws  and  those  which  the  people 
may  hereafter  make,  and  if  any  person  seek  to  annuU  the 
laws  or  to  set  them  at  nought,  I  will  do  my  best  to  prevent 
him,  and  will  defend  them  both  alone  and  with  many. 
I  will  honor  the  rehgion  of  my  fathers.  And  to  these 
things  I  call  the  Gods  to  witness. '* 

3.    Love  of  Humankind.      The  greatest  message  of 


THE   SOCIAL   IDEAL 


149 


Jesus  and  of  Christianity  is  the  supremacy  of  love :  that 
truth   has  transformed   our  ethics  and  is  transforming 
our    morals,    both    individual    and    social.      We    have 
already  met  this  element  of  character  twice,  first  as  the 
native  tendency  of  affection,  and  then  as  a  part  of 
the  ideal  disposition:    we  might  almost  as  well  have 
treated  it  also  under  the  head  of  habits ;   and  we  shall 
certainly  meet  it  again  as  we  trace  the  further  develop- 
ment of  character.     It  is  in  truth  the  deepest  and  most 
potent  force  in  every  individual   character,    and  is  the 
active  principle  of  progress  and  the  elevation  of  human 
life.    All  that  has  been  discussed  hitherto  and  all  that 
may  be  said  hereafter  as  to  tendencies,  disposition,  hab- 
its, ideals,  and  the  rest,  can  be  of  no  avail  if  this  source 
of  warmth  and  power  is  neglected,  —  which  is  merely  a 
commonplace  way  of  saying  what  was  said  for  all  time  in 
the  familiar  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  first  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians. 

Yet  we  must  not  be  allured  by  the  greatness  and  beauty 
of  love  to  miss  its  lowlier  forms  and  ignore  its  common  and 
everyday  uses  :  life  does  not  often  rise  to  great  emotional 
heights,  and  much  of  the  time  love  is  to  work  quietly, 
quite  inconspicuously,  and  even  imconsciously,  in  direct- 
ing and  inspiring  the  plain  duties  and  occupations  of 
ordinary  days.  It  is  at  all  times  to  permeate  our  relations 
to  all  about  us;  and  since  we  are  never  fully  disjoined 
from  our  fellows,  even  when  we  are  in  the  utmost  solitude, 
love  must  never  take  its  hand  off  the  guidance  of  life. 
It  is  necessary  that  the  youth  —  and  before  him  the 


ifi 


I50 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


educator  —  should  conceive  the  'love  of  love'  that 
Tennyson  praises,  —  he  must  here,  as  always,  admire 
before  he  imitates  and  adopts.  To  this  end  the  youth 
should  learn  the  history  of  the  world's  greatest  admira- 
tions, —  its  devotion  to  men  and  women  who  greatly 
loved.  Nearly  every  race  in  the  world's  history  has  had 
some  one  beloved  hero,  who  won  his  eminence  by  com- 
plete devotion  to  the  welfare  of  his  people.  Socrates 
loved  Athens  and  its  young  men  too  well  to  stop  teaching 
them  the  truth  even  to  save  his  own  Hfe.  The  central 
distinction  of  the  traditional  King  Arthur  is  his  devotion 
to  the  highest  good  of  his  knights  and  his  folk.  The 
greatest  world-hero  came  that  men,  —  without  distinc- 
tion of  race,  —  might  have  Hfe  more  abundantly.  America 
is  fortunate  in  the  possession  of  the  tender-hearted, 
sympathetic  Lincoln,  who  loved  too  well  to  flinch  from 
the  bloodiest  conflict,  and  yet  could  not  bring  his  heart 
to  sign  the  death  warrants  of  boyish  soldiers  who  had 
slept  on  duty,  no  matter  how  the  military  authorities 
stormed.  These  and  others  in  plenty  are  invaluable  to 
save  the  youth  from  the  subtle  fallacy  of  identifying  love, 
the  strongest  thing  in  the  world,  with  weakness,  which 
above  almost  everything  else  the  youth  hates.  Let  him 
once  catch  full  sight  of  love  and  strength,  in  natural  union, 
and  his  education  in  both  virtues  is  assured. 

The  native  tendency  of  affection  widens  in  a  simple  and 
natural  manner  as  the  child  grows  into  youth  and  man- 
hood. First  he  loves  mother  and  father,  brothers  and 
sisters,  playmates,  acquaintances,  friends.    These  are  the 


THE    SOCIAL   IDEAL 


151 


intenser  individual  forms  of  altruistic  emotion.  Gradu- 
ally knowledge  widens ;  he  meets  more  people,  and  learns 
of  the  life  and  conditions  of  still  more;  with  the  widening 
of  knowledge  should  come  the  widening  of  sympathy. 
Perhaps  the  chief  auxiliary  in  this  process  is  that  very 
knowledge  mentioned  earlier,  that  his  own  deeds  and 
destiny  are  in  touch  with  many  near  and  remote,  and  that 
he  may,  if  he  will,  help  or  hinder,  lift  or  thrust  down, 
cause  increase  of  joy  or  increase  of  pain.  And  so  in  a 
perfectly  natural  course,  proceeding  for  the  most  part  in 
secret  and  under  indirect  influences,  the  narrow,  petty, 
self-centered  soul  of  the  child  expands  and  reaches  out 
to  take  in  widening  circles  of  friendship  and  acquaintance 
and  interest,  and  still  wider  reaches  of  community,  nation, 
race,  and  finally  the  whole  of  mankind. 

4.  Courtesy:  A  Note  by  the  Way.  Courtesy  is  strictly 
not  an  essential  of  character,  but  an  attribute  of  conduct. 
Yet  it  is  so  essential,  both  to  the  individual  and  to  so- 
ciety, and  it  lies  so  close  to  character  that  we  can  hardly 
ignore  it  here.  True  courtesy  is  the  appropriate  mani- 
festation of  right  character  in  immediate  social  contact. 
Of  course  a  man  may  be  lacking  in  courtesy  and  yet 
possess  excellent  character,  although  good  character 
tends  in  itself  to  courteous  behavior ;  and  a  man  may 
behave  in  the  main  according  to  the  most  exacting  rules 
of  courtesy,  and  yet  be  a  scoundrel,  although  good  man- 
ners tend  to  exercise  a  wholesome  reflex  action  upon 
character.  These  two  cases  are  both  abnormal;  the 
natural  course  of  development  is  the  growth  of  good 


152 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


character  and  the  acquisition  of  habits  and  manners  that 
show  forth  the  good  character  in  social  relations. 

Especially  do  the  personal  ideal  in  all  its  forms,  and 
social  sympathy  and  intelligence,  contribute  toward  the 
right  basis  of  courtesy.  Given  these  inner  qualities,  and 
all  that  is  needed  further  is  training  in  the  forms  of  cour- 
tesy, — what  we  ordinarily  call  good  manners.  The  teach- 
ing of  manners  is  simply  an  external  auxiliary  and  adden- 
dum to  the  formation  of  character.  The  subject  would 
claim  a  far  larger  place  in  a  discussion  of  moral  training 
than  it  does  in  a  study  of  the  essentials  of  character. 
None  of  these  statements  is  intended  to  belittle  the 
importance  of  manners,  indicated  above,  for  the  comfort 
and  beauty  of  human  life  in  social  relations. 


CHAPTER  rX 


Strength  of  Character 


I.   the  sources  of  strength 


Native  vigor  of  impulses  and  desires  conserved  by 
education  and  experience,  the  establishment  of  inner 
harmony  and  cooperation  among  the  powers  and  capaci- 
ties of  the  soul,  the  formation  of  a  life  purpose,  and  the 
direction  of  the  individual  life  in  accordance  with  the 
eternal  principles  of  right  that  underlie  human  progress, 
—  these  are  the  elements  of  both  strength  and  righteous- 
ness in  human  character. 

I.  Conservation  of  Native  Vigor.  Power  arises,  as  we 
have  seen,  from  secret  sources  in  body  and  soul,  and 
manifests  itself  in  the  form  of  impulses,  instincts,  desires, 
and  other  original  tendencies;  these  powers  spring  up 
throughout  Hfe  and  in  all  its  periods,  but  are  especially  in- 
teresting and  important  in  childhood  and  youth,  as  they 
are  then  the  prophecy  and  description  of  life's  possibilities. 
The  first  great  maxim  of  education  is  the  nurture  and 
conservation  of  these  sources  of  power.  Repression,  even 
when  necessary,  as  it  sometimes  is,  in  itself  is  an  evil,  a 
negative  and  depressing  factor ;  it  is  justified  only  when 
the  reduction  and  loss  in  the  impulse  repressed  is  more 
than  recompensed  by  enlarged  scope  and  prosperity  in 

153 


154 


THE    ESSENTIALS    OF    CHARACTER 


some  other  perhaps  more  valuable  element.  Only  when 
a  particular  element  threatens  either  some  other  indis- 
pensable element,  or  the  balance  and  harmony  of  the 
whole  soul,  must  it  be  pruned  or  ehminated. 

The  main  tenor  of  education,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
stimulative,  encouraging,  positive.  The  nurture  of  what 
springs  from  the  native  spiritual  soil  is  the  chief  and  usual 
work  of  parent  and  teacher.  All  healthy  impulses  are  to 
have  room  and  opportunity;  time  must  be  found  for 
every  psychic  process  to  rise  into  its  appropriate  place  in 
consciousness,  and  fix  itself  through  association  and  habit. 
The  channels  of  energy,  varied  and  manifold,  are  to  be 
kept  open,  that  the  flow  may  augment  with  the  growth  of 
the  whole  organic  Hfe. 

Especially  are  the  elementary  forms  of  will  to  be  cher- 
ished ;  and  play  is  the  universal  exercise  ground  for  them 
all.  The  old  education  is  bad  education  so  far  as  it  fills 
the  child's  life  with  ''don'ts,"  and  meets  his  abounding 
activity  at  every  turn  with  prohibitions  and  limitations. 
Also  the  parental  or  pedagogic  disciphne  that  crushes  the 
child's  will  instead  of  directing  it  sins  against  the  hope  of 
strength  in  adult  character.  Two  types  of  child  impul- 
sion are  peculiarly  Uable  to  undue  repression,  the  noisy 
and  conspicuous,  and  the  dehcate  and  hidden.  The  tur- 
bulent impulses  arouse  opposition  in  the  elders,  and  may 
be  treated  so  harshly  as  to  cause  deep  permanent  laming 
of  the  will  (when  they  are  not  indulged  and  allowed  to 
choke  the  finer  motives,  —  the  path  of  wisdom  here  as 
always  is  a  golden  mean).     The  secret  impulses,  hidden 


STRENGTH  OF  CHARACTER 


155 


by  child  ignorance,  or  by  the  reserve  of  youth,  are  apt  to 
be  trodden  down  unawares,  through  lack  of  that  fine 
perception  in  the  educator  which  looks  through  the  con- 
cealing veil  of  the  external,  —  often  by  virtue  of  his  own 
experience  held  in  memory  from  childhood  days,  or  by 
grace  of  long  and  sympathetic  practical  study  of  the 
developing  soul.  The  true  educator,  whether  parent  or 
teacher,  also  will  not  ''break  the  bruised  reed  nor  quench 
the  smoking  flax." 

For  each  one  of  the  infinite  variety  and  number  of  the 
tendencies  of  childhood  and  youth  is  a  potential  strand 
in  the  mighty  fabric  of  that  strong  character  in  mature 
life  that  will  stand  the  strains  of  temptation;  or,  to 
change  the  figure,  it  can  add  its  quota  of  vital  energy  to 
the  total  that  shall  be  available  to  grapple  with  the  heavy 
tasks  that  enter  into  every  life  of  real  worth.  This  is  the 
motive  and  principle  of  the  conservation  of  the  natural 
dynamic  forces  of  the  child  and  the  youth. 

How  these  forces  are  to  be  made  permanent  and  opera- 
tive in  character  we  have  seen  in  our  study  of  disposition, 
habits,  tastes,  and  the  ideals  of  personal  and  social  life. 
The  value  of  these  established  parts  of  character  depends 
in  large  part  upon  the  amount  of  dynamic  energy  that  has 
been  saved  for  them  and  set  to  work  through  them.  In 
every  case  of  habit  or  ideal,  there  is  a  form  of  right  action, 
which  is  one  factor  in  the  value  of  the  habit,  and  there  is  a 
motive  power  of  drive  and  force,  that  constitutes  the  other 
factor.     The  lapse  or  defect  of  either  spells  failure. 

2.  Inner  Harmony  and  Coordination.    But  it  is  a  famil- 


! 


156 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


iar  fact  in  history  and  fiction  and  life  that  sometimes  the 
most  dynamic  characters  go  most  terribly  wrong.     More- 
over what  we  have  been  saying  in  favor  of  the  conservation 
and  nurture  of  the  forces  in  childhood  impulses  is  often 
carried    to   excess  by  parents  and    teachers  who  have 
learned  only  one  side  of  the  truth ;  too  many  fall  into  the 
foolish  fallacy  of  Rousseau,  who  to  guard  the  native  will 
of  the  child  against  parental  repression  tells  us  that  we 
must  ''never  command  the  child  anything  in  the  world'' ! 
The  truth  is  that  there  are  forces  in  most  normal  children 
which  if  undiscipHned  are  calculated  to  crush  and  ruin 
other  elements  that  are  indispensable  to  perfection,  and  so 
by  thrusting  themselves  into  an  unjust  predominance 
destroy  all  hope  of  full  development.     Such  are  anger, 
pugnacity,  many  forms  of  appetite  and  passion,  and,  later 
in  life,  a  great  variety  of  desires.     Hence  control  and 
some  degree  of  repression  are  absolutely  demanded  for  the 
child's  own  safety  and  future  possibihties.     It  goes  with- 
out saying  that  these  measures  of  discipHne  are  also  nec- 
essary to  fit  the  child  for  his  social  relations  both  in  child- 
hood and  in  adult  life. 

The  ideal  here  has  been  worked  out  for  all  time  by  the 
Greek  thinkers  on  ethics  and  education :  it  is  the  har- 
monious development  of  all  the  powers  and  capacities  of 
the  soul.  There  is  an  inner  health  and  balance  of  our 
spiritual  natures  that  is  destroyed  by  the  exaggeration  of 
any  of  the  capacities,  and  consists  in  such  culture  of 
each  that  the  totality  is  thereby  enriched  and  energized. 
Now  the  inner  life  of  a  human  being  is  in  such  intimate 


STRENGTH   OF   CHARACTER 


157 


dependence  upon  his  social  life,  his  environment,  his  sta- 
tion and  duty  in  life,  that  it  is  absurd  to  try  to  regulate  his 
development  entirely  from  within;  yet  something  may 
be  said  without  reserve  as  to  the  true  relation  of  some  of 
the  elements  of  character  that  we  have  been  studying. 

First,  then,  there  is  a  sort  of  natural  hierarchy  or  grada- 
tion of  rank  and  authority  among  the  elements.    And 
particularly  must  some  of  them  be  subordinate,  playing 
the  part  of  servants  and  ministers,  and  never  presume  to 
the  mastery.     Such  are  the  impulsive  elements  in  general, 
along  with  tastes  and  appetites ;  these  under  the  control 
of  higher  powers  furnish  power,  and  enrich  the  content  of 
life.     But  when  a  taste  or  an  appetite  or  an  individual 
desire  becomes  too  strong  for  the  rest  of  the  character,  it 
becomes  a  source  of  weakness  and  not  of  strength.    Thus 
a  certain  amount  of  what  is  ordinarily  called  temper  is 
an  element  of  strength,  making  one  capable  of  strenuous 
attack  upon  obstacles,  of  determined  resistance  to  hostile 
forces,  and  of  righteous  indignation ;  but  if  temper  gets 
beyond  control,  its  strength  is  weakness  to  the  character 
as  a  whole.     Even  a  good  appetite  is  a  source  of  power  in 
life  by  its  contribution  to  bodily  health  and  to  the  whole- 
some pleasures  of  the  palate;  but  when  appetite  is  the 
strongest   force  in  the  conduct  of  hfe,  character  falls  into 
ruin,  and  the  man  degenerates  into  the  drunkard,  the 
glutton,  or  the  roue. 

We  are  to  be  masters  of  ourselves,  as  all  ethical  sages 
have  declared ;  which  must  mean  that  the  higher  in  us  is 
to  be  lord  over  the  lower.    That  is,  mere  impulse  and 


^i 


iS8 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


appetite  must  be  less  authoritative  than  desires,  desire 
must  be  subject  to  good  habits,  and  all  these  must  bow  be- 
fore the  personal  ideal,  as  we  have  sketched  it.  Much 
morality  has  tended  to  stop  here,  with  the  idea  that  if  the 
personality  is  rightly  formed  the  life  must  be  completely 
right;  as  Polonius  has  it,  ''To  thine  own  self  be  true; 
And  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day,  Thou  canst  not 
then  be  false  to  any  man."  But  this  is  true  only  when  we 
enlarge  the  idea  of  self  to  embrace  the  whole  world,  that 
is,  all  with  whom  our  lives  come  into  contact :  the  personal 
ideal  must  lose  itself  and  be  perfected  in  the  social  ideal, 
in  altruism,  in  self-forgetfulness,  in  those  devoted  atti- 
tudes we  know  as  family  and  friendly  love,  public  spirit, 
patriotism,  and  finally  love  of  all  mankind.  The  study 
of  all  the  greatest  moral  types,  from  Socrates  down  to 
Lincoln,  including  Jesus  himself,  exhibit  this  culmination 
of  all  character  in  love. 

This  rule  of  the  higher  over  the  lower  is  often  spoken  of 
as  the  supremacy  of  reason;  impulse  and  appetite  are 
blind,  seeing  only  the  immediate  object  of  desire,  and 
ignoring  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  —  sacrificing  one's  own 
larger  future  good,  and  treading  down  the  interests  and 
happiness  of  others.  The  righteous  character  strives  to 
perceive  all  the  considerations  that  affect  the  case,  to  do 
justice  to  all  who  are  concerned,  and  to  act  upon  a  fair 
balance  of  rights  and  interests.  Thus  clear  vision  and 
intelligence  form  an  essential  part  of  this  subordination  of 
the  lower  to  the  higher. 

3.  Formation    of   Purposes,    Character    utters    itself 


STRENGTH  OF  CHARACTER 


159 


only  in  action;  and  the  forces  of  character  flow  most 
effectively  into  action  only  when  they  are  rallied  to  the 
achievement  of  clearly  conceived  and  firmly  held  pur- 
poses running  through  life  or  considerable  stretches  of 
time.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  very  many  human  beings, 
possibly  the  great  majority,  never  form  any  such  life 
purposes,  but  live  a  hand-to-mouth  existence,  doing  each 
day  or  each  week  what  the  time  seems  to  dictate.  Still 
it  remains  true  that  such  life  purposes  are  indispensable 
to  the  fullest  realization  of  human  character,  and  are 
peculiarly  marked  in  the  strongest  and  most  effective 
characters  of  history  and  general  experience. 

What  these  purposes  shall  be  is  a  question  for  the  in- 
dividual himself  to  answer :  unless  he  has  self-reliance  and 
initiative  to  conceive  and  adopt  his  purposes,  he  is  not 
likely  to  possess  the  greater  strength  required  to  carry 
them  out.  Older  persons  should  be  chary  about  inter- 
ference with  the  formation  of  purposes ;  only  those  who 
know  the  youth  best  and  understand  his  nature  and  cir- 
cumstances can  safely  give  advice  even  when  asked ;  it 
is  doubtful  if  any  one  ought  to  tender  it  unasked.  On 
the  other  hand,  education,  both  in  home  and  in  school, 
should  at  least  be  such  as  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  youth  to 
the  task  that  devolves  upon  him  of  finding  or  creating  for 
himself  an  aim  of  life  that  shall  be  fit  and  worthy. 

The  commonest  and  most  definite  form  in  which  this 
question  arises  is  in  the  choice  of  a  calling.  Too  many 
lads  stumble  blindfold  into  an  occupation;  few  indeed 
imder  present  conditions  can  use  any  intelligence  in  the 


^1' 


m 
P 


i6o 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


decision.  Both  parents  and  school  might  and  doubtless 
in  the  near  future  will  do  much  more  than  they  do  now  to 
throw  light  upon  this  important  problem  of  youth.  Most 
important  of  all  for  the  larger  welfare  is  the  point  we  have 
touched  elsewhere,  that  every  occupation  should  be  genu- 
ine social  service,  and  that  work  should  be  real  value  given 
for  the  remuneration  received.  It  is  unreasonable  to 
condemn  this  as  unpractical ;  for  many  men  already  fully 
recognize  the  truth  and  honestly  work  by  it,  and  all  men 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent  measure  their  work  by  the 
standard  of  genuine  service. 

The  unexpended  balance  of  life  left  by  the  occupation 
is  to  be  appropriated  to  other  purposes,  —  worthy  amuse- 
ment and  recreation,  intellectual  pursuits,  and,  most  im- 
portant of  all,  civic  and  social  activities.  All  these  vary 
so  much  with  the  individual  that  no  general  discussion 
can  be  of  much  value.  But  the  wisdom  with  which  they 
are  chosen,  and  the  authority  they  exert  over  the  conduct 
of  Hfe,  greatly  affect  both  character  and  achievement. 

4.  Concord  with  the  Larger  Purposes  and  Ideals  of  Eu- 
manity.  The  actual  efficiency  of  a  character  depends  not 
only  upon  its  native  strength  and  its  inner  harmony,  but 
also  upon  its  agreement  with  the  trend  of  human  progress. 
Great  souls  are  sometimes  in  harmony  with  their  own 
times  and  with  the  progress  of  the  race;  sometimes  in 
harmony  with  the  times  and  in  conflict  with  world  prog- 
ress; sometimes  in  conflict  with  the  times  and  still  in 
harmony  with  human  progress ;  and  perhaps  sometimes 
out  of  harmony  with  both.    The  latter  cases,  if  such  there 


STRENGTH  OF  CHARACTER 


161 


are,  can  make  little  mark  and  do  not  find  a  place  in  his- 
tory.    He  who  fits  his  time  but  works  against  progress 
will  be  called  great  in  his  Hfetime  and  then  sink  into  in- 
significance ;  it  is  clear  that  the  character  that  is  to  leave 
a  lasting  work  must  work  in  harmony  with  the  general 
trend,  whether  he  works  with  his  time  or  against  it.    Ly- 
curgus,  Solon,  Moses,    Washington,  Lincohi,  are  illus- 
trious examples  of  men  of  character  who  worked  with  their 
times  and  in  harmony  with  world  progress.    Napoleon  is 
a  striking  example  of  one  who  worked  with  his  own  times, 
or  at  least  with  his  own  race  and  generation,  but  largely 
contrary  to  the  general  trend  of  human  development.    So 
his  name  grows  gradually  less  in  our  esteem.    Socrates 
and  Jesus  are   perhaps  the    most  illustrious  of  many 
names  of  those  who  came  into  violent    collision  with 
dominant  powers  of  their  own  time,  but  led  the  race 
powerfully  in  its  onward  march.    The  inquisitors  and 
persecutors  of  many  times  worked  with  their  own  times, 
but  against  world  progress,  and  so  their  work  availed 
nothing,  even  to  silence  the  heresies  of  their  victims. 

What  is  true  of  these  great  men,  and  vividly  revealed  in 
their  lives,  is  true  in  its  proportion  of  all  human  characters 
and  lives.  And  in  order  to  be  in  harmony  with  world 
progress,  each  man,  small  as  well  as  great,  must  strive  to 
take  into  his  own  heart  and  will  all  that  he  can  apprehend 
of  the  best  in  human  thought  and  aspiration,  as  he  finds 
it  in  experience,  in  history,  literature,  and  all  forms  of 
culture.  Above  all,  he  must  unceasingly  strive  to  escape 
;^  from  his  narrower  self,  with  its  own  individual  desires  and 


l62 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


STRENGTH   OF   CHARACTER 


163 


ambitions,  and  gain  insight  and  sympathy  for  the  lives  of 
his  fellows.  So  may  the  force  of  his  will  be  added  to  the 
great  stream  of  human  endeavor  that  'makes  for  right- 
eousness/ and  his  hfe  becomes  a  part  of  the  upward 
struggle  of  the  race,  the  struggle  that  is  the  basic  distinc- 
tion between  man  and  the  lower  races  of  the  animal 
kingdom.  This  union  of  the  individual  will  with  the  will 
of  mankind  is  the  consummation  of  both  strength  and 
righteousness  of  character.  ''A  man  is  a  little  thing," 
says  Emerson,  ''whilst  he  works  for  and  by  himself,  but 
when  he  gives  voice  to  the  rules  of  love  and  justice,  is  god- 
like, his  word  is  current  in  all  countries;  and  all  men, 
though  his  enemies,  are  made  his  friends  and  obey  it  as 
their  own." 

We  can  only  mention  here  the  profound  truth  that 
so  closely  knit  are  the  inner  and  outer  sides  of  character, 
the  individual  and  the  social,  that  there  can  never  be  the 
fullest  degree  even  of  inner  strength  without  at  least  the 
consciousness  of  harmony  with  the  great  currents  of 
righteousness.  Napoleon  was  by  all  accounts  pitifully 
small  in  many  of  the  inner  elements  of  human  nature,  — 
lacking  especially  in  the  personal  ideal,  both  as  to  dignity 
and  honor,  being  an  unscrupulous  Uar,  and,  according  to 
very  good  authorities,  a  good  deal  of  a  buffoon.  The 
fullest  strength  comes  only  when  the  man  feels  himself 
to  be  in  harmony  with  the  great  movements  of  human 
Hfe  and  advance.  Historically  this  feeling  has  usually 
taken  a  reUgious  form,  and  the  unity  has  been  felt  and 
expressed  as  harmony  with  the  will  of  God ;  the  greatest 


souls  that  earth  has  produced  have  had  this  sense  of  one- 
ness with  the  divine,  and  consequent  harmony  with  the 
onward  march  of  life.  Such  characters  seem  to  be  Hfted 
quite  above  the  weaknesses  and  failures  of  the  ordinary 
man;  over  their  wills  temptation  has  little  power;  they 
stride  forward  in  their  life  purposes  over  obstacles  and 
through  trial  and  agony.  Here,  again,  what  is  writ  large 
in  these  heroic  souls  is  true  also  in  modest  degree  of  each 
life :  just  in  proportion  as  we  get  our  wills  into  concord 
with  that  great  world  power  that  makes  for  right  and 
truth,  are  our  own  characters  reenforced  and  energized, 
raised  above  the  reach  of  petty  and  transitory  motives, 
and  made  an  effective  part  of  the  achievement  of  the 
race. 

n.     THE   VIRTUES   OF   STRENGTH 

A  goodly  number  of  admirable  qualities  are  really  forms 
of  strength,  or  special  ways  in  which  strength  shows  itself 
in  action.     These  may  be  considered  under  three  heads  : 
first  the  virtues  of  courage^  including  courage  itself  in  the 
ordinary  sense,  perseverance,  endurance,  patience;  then 
the  forms  of  integrity,  — truthfulness,  honesty,  justice;  and, 
finally,  self-control.     In  all  these  virtues  the  essence  lies  in 
holding  fast  that  which  we  have  chosen  to  hold,  in  spite 
of  opposition,  pain,  loss,  and  peril.     Courage  looks  mainly 
toward  the  outer  world;  integrity  is  concerned  more  with 
conditions  in  the  soul  itself.     But  there  is  a  deeper  dis- 
tinction :   the  virtues  of  courage  are  not  necessarily  vir- 
tues, but  are  good  or  bad  according  to  the  cause  in  which 


4 


164 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


they  are  enlisted ;  the  virtues  of  Integrity  are  Intrinsically 
good. 

I.  The  Virtues  of  Courage.  For  courage  Itself  \^e  may 
adopt  a  modified  form  of  Plato's  famous  definition,  and 
say  it  consists  in  daring  all  that  ought  to  be  dared.  Mac- 
beth, guilty  wretch  though  he  was,  phrased  it  well  when 
he  declared,  "I  dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man ;  Who 
dares  do  more  is  none."  Admirable  as  bravery  is  in  almost 
any  form,  it  becomes  a  true  virtue  only  when  it  consists  in 
pursuing  or  defending  a  truly  worthy  object  or  cause. 
Physical  bravery,  and  some  forms  of  spiritual  courage,  are 
largely  a  matter  of  native  endowment ;  the  truer  courage 
of  the  definition  cannot  be  given  by  the  hand  of  the  most 
generous  original  nature,  but  is  a  resultant  of  the  highest 
development  of  character  as  a  whole.  For  into  the  de- 
cision of  the  causes  for  which  we  shall  dare  must  enter 
our  whole  spiritual  fife,  —  tastes,  personal  ideals,  and, 
above  all,  our  grasp  and  sense  of  social  relationships. 
It  is  a  mere  truism  to  say  that  often  the  bravest  externally 
will  fall  far  short  when  tested  not  merely  by  the  visible 
boldness  of  his  deeds,  but  also  by  the  causes  in  whose 
service  the  deed  was  done.  Too  often  the  act  that  seemed 
bold  was  really  craven,  for  the  doer  faltered  from  the 
support  of  what  in  his  heart  he  knew  to  be  highest;  he 
'dared  more  than  may  become  a  man.* 

It  is  clear  that  education  must  quaHfy  the  mind  of 
youth  to  distinguish  between  mere  native  boldness,  as  a 
thing  to  be  desired  indeed,  but  having  no  special  moral 
merit ;  and  courage  in  wrong  causes,  especially  in  selfish 


STRENGTH  OF  CHARACTER 


165 


and  unsocial  purposes ;  and,  finally,  the  true  courage  that 
stands  for  the  defense  and  vindication  of  the  best  things 
in  life. 

^  Perseverance,  endurance,  and  patience,  are  all  forms  of 
virtue  in  which  the  force  and  permanence  of  the  inner 
movements  of  the  spirit  oppose  and  defeat  opposition  and 
obstacles  of  all  kinds.    Especially  must  these  virtues 
sufiice  for  the  conquest  of  toil  and  weariness,  pain,  drudg- 
ery, tedium,  and,  possibly  most  serious  of  all,  discour- 
agement and  failure.     The  youth  must  learn  not  to  know 
when  he  is  beaten,  but  to  return  with  increased  energy 
to  the  task.     His  temper,  Hke  that  of  steel,  must  grow 
with  blows.     Especially  must  he  learn  that  certain  things 
are  imperative  and  not  to  be  surrendered,  and  that  of 
tJiese  he  must  never  say  "I  cannot,"  but  only,  if  necessary, 
''I  have  not  yet  achieved,  but  I  am  still  striving." 

2.The^  Virtues  of  Integrity,     Courage  and  its  relatives 
consist  in  standing  by  our  own  purpose  and  ideals,  — 
whatever  they  may  be ;    integrity  lies  in  having  ideals 
that  stand  the  most  penetrating  scrutiny  we  can  give 
them,  and  then  standing  by  these  tested  ideals.     This  is 
strength  of  character  in  the  highest  sense.     The  first  stage 
of  integrity  is  inward,  and  consists  in  the  testing  and 
ranking^  of  ideals.    Life  holds  out  to  us  countless  and 
varied  aims  and  ends,  all  beckoning  us  to  pursue.  Impulses, 
desires,  appetites,  duty,  love,  ambitions,  and  whatever 
else  may  appeal  to  our  wills— upon  these  judgments  must 
be  pronounced,  and  ranks  conferred.    The  first  integrity 
consists   in   clear    sincerity    and    honesty    with    one- 


1 66 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


self:  the  putting  first  things  first,  and  relegating  less 
worthy  to  a  lower  place.  This  may  seem  like  an  intel- 
lectual process,  but  it  sounds  the  very  deeps  of  the  soul, 
and  its  outcome  is  really  a  verdict  upon  the  soul  itself, 
and  sways  the  balances  of  fate.  The  man  of  integrity  is 
he  who  has  chosen  without  self-deceit,  and  has  sworn 
fealty,  as  it  were,  to  what  he  finds  most  worthy.  The 
experience  is  at  bottom  a  religious  rather  than  merely 
moral  one,  and  is  best  illustrated  by  the  ancient  leader 
who  declares,  *'As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the 
Lord";  or  by  the  alternative  urged  by  the  prophet,  ^'If 
the  Lord  be  God,  serve  Him;  if  Baal,  then  serve  him." 
So  in  the  early  years  of  life,  and  especially  in  adolescence, 
the  mind  turns  upon  the  many-hued  prospect  of  fife,  and 
judges  it;  not  in  a  day  nor  a  year,  even,  but  as  time 
passes  and  as  the  spirit  grows  and  enlarges.  And  the 
verdict  is  for  integrity  or  against  it;  the  conclusion  is 
whole-hearted  and  without  misgivings  and  reservations ; 
or  it  blinks  some  things,  denies  others,  and  indefinitely 
postpones  others. 

The  second  step  in  integrity  is  steady  and  active  fidelity 
to  the  chosen  ideals,  and  life  in  accordance  with  them. 
Here  it  passes  into  courage  in  its  truest  form  and  in 
its  various  manifestations.  The  virtue  of  integrity  par 
excellence  is  truthfulness,  which  is  making  our  outward 
expressions  and  declarations  a  true  representation  of  our 
inner  spirits,  and  this  quite  without  regard  to  whether  the 
expression  is  by  word  or  in  any  other  form.  We  have 
already  discussed  this  virtue,  especially  with  reference  to 


STRENGTH  OF  CHARACTER 


167 


childhood ;  what  is  there  said  all  lends  force  to  the  idea  that 
truthfulness  as  a  positive  virtue  is  really  a  form  of 
strength.  Fear  and  desire  we  found  to  be  the  great 
enemies  of  the  truth;  strength  of  higher  elements  of 
character  is  the  only  possible  safeguard  against  these 
foes;  as  Richter  says,  "Weaklings  lie,  no  matter  how 
they  may  abhor  it."  Every  lesson  in  truthfulness  is 
really  a  lesson  in  being  strong ;  and  every  influence  that 
reenforces  the  higher  elements  of  character  tends  to  truth- 
fulness. 

Of  honesty  and  justice  little  need  be  said,  for  they  are 
among   the   oldest   and   most   admired   virtues.    Their 
value  lies  in  the  resistance  of  desire  and  fear  when  these 
motives  would  lead  one  to  trespass  upon  the   rights  of 
others.     They  rest  first  upon  moral  and  social  intelli- 
gence, by  which  the  rights  of  self  and  others  are  decided ; 
and  then  upon  strength  of  character  to  act  in  accordance 
with  the  decision.     The  commonest  defect  in  these  vir- 
tues is  that  men  who  would  not  rob  a  neighbor  of  a  penny, 
will  unhesitatingly  plunder  the  state  that  nourished  them, 
a  corporation,  or  men  and  women  whom  they  have  never 
seen  or  at  least  do  not  know.     The  strength  needed  here 
is  not  only  widened  sympathy,  but  also  broader  percep- 
tion, to  see  and  appreciate  the  situation  and  interests  of 
those  remote  from  us  in  space  or  social  rank,  whose  lives 
our  conduct  yet  influences  for  weal  or  woe.     The  broadest 
and  most  trustworthy  justice  is  based  upon  the  full  de- 
velopment of  that  social  inteUigence  and  feehng  spoken 
of  in  a  previous  chapter.    Its  extreme  opposites  are 


1 68 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


typified  by  Cain's  guilty  question,  "Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper?"  when  he  had  just  murdered  the  brother;  or 
the  heartless  scorn  of  the  rulers  who  had  corrupted  Judas, 
and  mock  his  remorse  with  *'What  is  that  to  us?  See 
thou  to  that."  Justice  is  clear  vision  and  determined 
will  to  see  all  and  act  upon  full  consideration,  even  at  the 
cost  of  private  and  personal  comfort  or  profit.  To  it  all 
the  other  virtues  of  strength  minister,  and  for  its  perfec- 
tion all  the  elements  of  character  must  contribute ;  this 
perhaps  is  the  justification  for  Plato's  elevating  it  to  the 
supreme  place  among  the  virtues. 

The  inner  perfection  of  the  will  is  self-command.  By 
which  we  mean  not  merely  self-restraint,  the  checking 
and  subjugation  of  injurious  impulses,  indispensable  as 
this  is ;  but  also  the  higher  positive  virtue  of  self -direction, 
self-energization,  self-activation.  Self-restraint,  or  tem- 
perance in  the  true  significance  of  that  word,  arises  mainly 
through  the  harmonization  of  spiritual  impulses  that  we 
have  already  discussed.  Even  self-restraint  is  really  ac- 
compHshed  not  by  any  mere  negation  and  quelling  of  the 
lower  impulses,  but  rather  by  the  greater  force  and  activ- 
ity of  the  higher  elements.  Such  self-restraint  is  the 
necessary  basis  for  effective  character,  inasmuch  as  insub- 
ordination among  the  lower  elements  of  the  soul  chokes 
the  growth  of  all  higher  processes,  and  blocks  the  way  to 
perfection.  Only  through  self-restraint  can  a  character 
be  even  safe,  either  toward  itself  or  for  its  environ- 
ment. But  the  higher  virtue  is  positive  and  dynamic 
self -direction. 


STRENGTH  OF  CHARACTER 


169 


To  receive  all  facts  and  conditions  into  one's  intelligence, 
to  hear  all  evidence,  as  it  were ;  to  form  one's  own  aims 
and  plans,  and  to  turn  into  them  the  power  to  carry  them 
into  effect,  —  this  is  self-command  in  the  higher  sense, 
and  is  the  perfection  or  efficiency  of  the  will  as  a  working 
organ.  It  is  this  quality  that  makes  leaders,  whose  own 
strong  decision  moves  the  wills  of  others  as  the  magnet 
draws  the  iron.  This  self-command  includes  initiative 
and  resolution  and  abundant  force  of  will,  to  conceive 
and  adopt  purposes  and  plans,  to  press  them  through 
obstacles  and  opposition,  and  hold  to  them  until  the  end. 
Of  this,  perhaps  even  more  clearly  than  of  the  other  vir- 
tues of  strength,  we  perceive  that  it  is  a  consummation 
of  harmonious  cooperation  among  all  the  forces  of  char- 
acter, and  that  its  attainment  is  possible  only  through  the 
broadest  nurture  and  discipline  of  all  powers  and  capac- 
ities. 


RELIGION 


171 


CHAPTER  X 

Religion 

We  have  in  this  chapter  nothing  to  do  with  dogmatism 
or  theological  disputation ;    but  if  any  man  doubt  that 
religion  is  of  the  essence  of  human  character,  let  him  read 
again  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  —  the  most  perfect 
model  for  American  character;    let  him  hear  Lincoln 
speak  under  the  shadow  of  the  approaching  conflict,  ''I 
know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  he  hates  injustice  and 
slavery.  ...     If  He  has  a  place  and  a  work  for  me,  — 
and  I  think  He  has,  —  I  believe  I  am  ready."     Or  again, 
when  the  storm  was  at  its  worst,  ''If  it  were  not  for  my 
firm  belief  in  an  overruling  Providence,  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult for  me,  in  the  midst  of  such  complications  of  affairs, 
to  keep  my  reason  on  its  seat.     But  I  am  confident  that 
the  Almighty  has  His  plans  and  will  work  them  out.  .  .  . 
I  have  always  taken  counsel  of  Him,  and  have  never 
adopted  a  course  of  proceeding  without  being  assured, 
as  far  as  I  could  be,  of  His  approbation."    As  the  great 
soul  of  the  man  grew  under  the  fiery  discipline  of  his  labors 
and  experience,  religion  became  daily  more  and  more  pre- 
dominant in  his  thought  and  expressions. 

Or  look  for  evidence  into  other  history,  and  see  how  all 
the  greatest  spirits  have  been  either  actually  religious 

170 


leaders,  like  Moses  or  Mahomet,  or  have  inclined  pro- 
foundly to  religious  thought  and  feeling,  as  in  the  case  of 
Socrates,  Plato,  Epictetus,  Alfred  the  Great,  Washington, 
Gladstone.  Or,  best  of  all,  let  any  man  examine  his  own 
consciousness  when  the  best  thoughts  and  emotions  rise 
to  unwonted  height,  —  when  love,  or  compassion,  self- 
sacrifice,  forgiveness,  benevolence,  stir  the  soul  with  more 
than  common  power ;  or,  most  of  all,  when  grief  or  trouble 
press  heavily  upon  the  spirit;  and  he  will  find  himself 
seeking  instinctively  for  those  deep  experiences  that  make 
the  essence  of  all  religious  life. 

The  very  word  religion  h  an  indicadon  of  the  intimate 
connection  between  religion  and  conduct,  for  the  word 
means  rather  scruple  or  consciettcc  than  any  rite  or  cere- 
mony ;  and  the  great  definitions  and  formulas  of  various 
rehgions  all  agree  in  making  Ufc  and  action  the  final  em- 
bodiment and  evidence  ol  genuine  rdigious  spirit.  Es- 
pecially is  this  true  of  Chri.stianity,  as  will  appear  in  all 
the  public  discourses  of  Je^us,  particularly  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  and  the  Allegory  of  the  Last  Judgment. 

The  truth  is  tluit  one  <:5i<cntial  part  at  least  of  religion  is 
simply  the  consununation  of  etliics ;  .some  one  has  called 
religion  morality  touched  with  emotion,  and  tlie  statement 
is  so  far  true.  It  has  abo  been  wisely  said  that  no  virtue 
is  safe  that  is  not  enthusiastic ;  and  the  enthusiasm  <A 
virtue  is  a  religiou.H  p;i^ion.  The  growing  religious  tone 
in  Lincoln's  utterances  already  referred  to  shows  how 
naturally  a  lofty  morality  under  intense  pressure  passes 
into  religious  conviction  and  fervor.    It  seems  dear  that 


172 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


Lincoln  was  intellectually  a  thoroughgoing  rationalist, 
but  because  life  had  for  him  so  deep  a  meaning,  and  duty 
such  imperative  authority,  when  hours  of  darkness  and 
strenuous  trial  came  his  whole  consciousness  became 
filled  with  the  religious  spirit. 

The  union  between  religion  and  morality  is  so  intimate 
and  vital  that  one  ought  to  apologize  for  any  argument  on 
the  subject ;   but  there  is  real  need  for  reminder  and  in- 
sistence, in  this  day  and  age,  and  particularly  in  America. 
We  have  created  here  the  first  great  system  of  pubUc 
education  the  world  has  known  in  which  religion  is  not  a 
part  of  the  regular  curriculum  and  one  of  the  acknowledged 
means  of  cultivation.     Our  Roman  Catholic  fellow  citizens 
naturally  condemn  the  system  unsparingly ;  the  rest  of  us 
mostly  ignore  the  situation  or  take  it  for  granted  as  the 
only  right  and  proper  way  of  conducting  schools.     The 
truth  probably  lies  somewhere  between  the  two  camps- 
But  the  point  for  us  here  is  that  educational  thought  has 
followed  educational  practice,   and    we  have  gradually 
come  to  omit  religion  from  our  mental  schemes  of  peda- 
gogy, and  comfortably  accept  the  serious  fact  that  a  great 
part  of  our  youth  are  growing  up  without  any  education 
in  religion,  —  or  rather  without  any  religion  in  their  edu- 
cation.    Do  we  so   completely  discredit  the  wisdom  of 
Gladstone  when  he  says,  ''It  is  a  dangerous  thing  for  a 
young  man  to  start  out  in  life  without  the  thought  of 
God^'? 

That  similar  conditions  exist  or  are  arising  in  other 
countries  is  evident  from  the  ejection  of  religion  from  the 


RELIGION 


173 


public  schools  in  France  in  1882,  the  strong  movement 
for  nonsectarian  schools  in  England,  and  the  discontent 
over  the  existing  rehgious  instruction  in  Germany.  The 
whole  question  relates  to  a  great  world  movement  in 
human  thought  and  life,  and  its  answer  will  not  be  written 
by  any  man  or  set  of  men,  but  will  needs  be  worked  out 
practically  by  education,  the  church,  society,  and  govern- 
ments. Certainly  no  one  who  knows  the  pubHc  schools 
has  any  sympathy  for  the  charge  that  they  are  irreHgious 
or  tend  to  irrehgion ;  the  truth  probably  is  that  for  the 
majority  of  American  children  the  school  is  the  most 
religious  influence  they  meet.  Nor  can  we  hope,  even  if 
we  wished,  to  introduce  in  our  schools  any  such  type  of 
religious  instruction  as  now  exists  in  Germany  and  other 
European  lands :  we  certainly  cannot  adopt  what  they 
are  discarding  as  obsolete  and  ineffective.  But  after  all 
we  dare  not  forget  that  religion  is  an  integral  part  of  hu- 
man Hfe  and  culture,  and  hence  of  education :  the  great 
question  is,  as  we  have  hinted,  not  education  in  religion, 
but  religion  in  education,  as  one  of  the  indispensable 
agencies  and  resultants  in  the  training  of  any  human  soul. 
It  is  with  natural  hesitation  and  misgiving  that  one 
approaches  so  difficult  and  disputed  a  question  as  the 
actual  place  of  religion  in  character  and  education:  we 
must,  however,  endeavor  to  outline,  first  some  of  the  most 
vital  elements  in  religion  that  enter  essentially  into  char- 
acter and  moral  education ;  and  then  some  of  the  virtues 
in  character  that  spring  peculiarly  from  the  religious 
elements. 


174 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHAR.\CTER 


I.   Religious  Elements,     Religious  conceptions  group 
themselves  naturally  about  God  and  Man ;  the  thought 
of  God,  which  is  in  itself  religious,  and   the   religious 
conception  of  Man,  both  work  powerfully  upon  character. 
The  thought  of  Gody  to  the  normal  human  mind,  means 
chiefly   two   things,   natural   law  in  the  universe,  and 
moral  law  in  human  life  and  affairs.    It  means  order 
instead  of  chaos,  cosmic  intelligence  instead  of  the  reign 
of  chance,  progress  and  uplift  instead  of. a  meaningless 
recurring  cycle  of  change.     This  thought  of  God  as  the 
ground  of  natural  law  has  been  a  loadstar  for  thought  in 
all  ages ;  the  mind  of  man  has  wandered  away  from  it  at 
times  or  in  indi\idual  cases,  but  has  as  constantly  come 
back  to  it.    About  it  have  been  built  the  most  influential 
systems  of  philosophy,  from  the  days  of  the  Greek  nous 
to  the  modem  idealistic  absolute.    It  has  been  a  tonic  for 
intellect,  and  has  exerted  a  reflex  influence  of  stem,  high 
power  upon  ethics  and  morals.    It  is  the  best  safeguard 
against  pessimism  and  despair.     In  all  ages  it  has  had  a 
positive  fascination  for  the  minds  of  men ;  in  a  word,  it 
seems  to  rise  out  of  the  very  nature  of  human  intelligence 
and  flow  into  health  of  intellect  and  will. 

Besides  natural  law,  the  thought  of  God  means  moral 
law.  Especially  in  the  Hebrew  theology,  which,  refined 
and  elevated  in  Christianity,  is  our  religion  to-day,  God 
is  the  judge  of  human  conduct,  loving  righteousness  and 
hating  iniquity.  Hence  Wordsworth's  "Duty,  stern 
Daughter  of  the  Voice  of  God,"  and  hence  the  ascription 
of  the  Decalogue  to  the  very  finger  of  Jehovah.    In  fact, 


RELIGION 


175 


with  the  Hebrews,  religion  and  morality  were  one  and 
inseparable,  in  spite  of  the  extreme  degree  of  symboUsm 
and  ceremony  in  their  cult.  Hence  also  the  invocation  of 
God  in  the  oath  to  solemnize  testimony  and  confirm  ob- 
ligations. No  considerable  part  of  any  race  or  people  has 
ever  got  away  from  the  conviction  that  righteousness  and 
God  are  somehow  one  and  the  same;  even  the  intellec- 
tualists  for  the  most  part  agree  with  Arnold  as  to  the 
real  existence  in  the  universe  of  a  "Power,  not  ourselves, 
that  makes  for  righteousness."  Certainly  to  the  common 
man,  that  is  to  the  great  majority  of  us  all,  the  voice  of 
duty  and  conscience  is  still  the  voice  of  God,  and  our 
wrong-doing  is  felt  to  be,  like  that  of  the  Prodigal, 
*  against  Heaven.' 

This  identification  of  God  and  moral  right  has  sprung 
from  the  uttermost  beginnings  of  the  spiritual  life  of  man, 
and  has  grown  with  his  growth  through  ages  and  centuries 
of  culture  and  mental  advance;  the  strongest  and  best 
men  and  women  of  all  periods  have  been  most  deeply 
imbued  with  it,  and  it  has  kept  equal  pace  with  the  up- 
ward movements  of  races  and  peoples ;  it  deepens  with  the 
deepening  of  life  and  reaches  its  culmination  in  our  in- 
dividual souls  when  we  most  fully  realize  the  best  poten- 
tialities of  our  nature.  The  strife  of  theologians  and  the 
doubts  of  skepticism,  however  honest,  are  merely  the 
temporary  aberrations  of  the  intellectual  conception  of 
God,  and  neither  indicate  nor  forebode  any  final  loss  of 
the  real  and  potent  sense  of  the  Divine. 

2.   The  Religious  Conception  of  Man,    After  the  con- 


176 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


ception  of  the  Divine  itself,  the  most  powerful  thought  in 
religion  is  the  startUng  assertion  that  Man  himself  is  akin 
to  God.     It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  more  utter  paradox 
than  this  stupendous  claim;    yet  the  very  religions  that 
have  conceived  God  in  the  most  subHme  and  majestic 
nature,  and  have  most  emphasized  the  gulf  between  His 
perfection  and  man's  frailty  and  weakness,  are  the  ones 
that  have  most  unequivocally  declared  that  man  is  the 
Son  of  God,  created  in  His  image,  vivified  by  His  breath. 
One  must  feel  that  the  claim  itself  is  nothing  but  the  voice 
of  man's  boundless  aspiration,  and  that  his  aspiration  is 
the  best  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  claim.    As  to  character 
and  its  outer  form,  conduct,  can  the  mind  conceive  any 
more  potent  stimulus  and  upHf  t  than  a  sincere  and  genuine 
belief  that  the  human  soul  is  really  divine  in  its  nature 
and  possibilities?    Here  then  is  the  place  of  this  con- 
ception as  one  of  the  essentials  of  character. 

The  personal  ideal  and  the  social  ideal,  as  we  have 
discussed  them,  are  matter  of  fact  enough;  yet  their 
natural  fruition  is  found  in  the  great  religious  conception 
now  before  us.  To  think  worthily  of  one's  body  is  really, 
as  the  Apostle  has  it,  to  conceive  it  as  the  temple  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  our  intellectual  powers,  with  their  clearness, 
their  grasp  of  the  illimitable  universe  of  thought,  their 
evident  superiority  over  all  the  unconscious  and  less-con- 
scious parts  of  creation,  are  just  the  powers  that  we  as- 
cribe, in  fuller  perfection,  to  God.  Above  all,  the  self- 
directing  will,  seeing  all,  weighing  causes  and  effects,  and 
choosing  ends  and  means,  is  the  highest  attribute  we  can 


RELIGION 


177 


think  in  the  Divine.  In  both  cases,  moreover,  there  is 
one  marked  element  in  both  intellectual  and  moral  ad- 
vance that  is  pecuharly  an  evidence  of  the  Divine,  and 
peculiarly  powerful  as  stimulus  and  guide :  it  is  the  great 
sense  of  possible  further  advance  that  seizes  us  with  such 
power,  fills  our  souls  with  inexpressible  longing  for  more 
knowledge,  deeper  insight,  or  for  purer  virtue  and  finer 
life ;  when  we  feel  the  universal  aspiration  voiced  by  the 
great  Apostle  when  he  cries ; ''  I  count  not  myself  to  have 
apprehended ;  but  this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those 
things  that  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things 
that  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark.''  So  the  per- 
sonal ideal  and  its  correlative  of  self-respect  find  their 
natural  source  of  power  and  greatness  in  the  sense  that 
our  personal  selves  partake  of  the  supreme  essence  of  all 
being ;  that  we  belong  to  a  race  that  sets  no  bounds  to  its 
perfectibility,  and  that  each  one  of  us  has  a  right  and  a 
duty  to  covet  and  strive  for  the  loftiest  personal  excel- 
lence. So  mere  morality  gets  the  needed  touch  of  emo- 
tion and  inspiration,  and  virtue  takes  on  true  enthusiasm 
—  possession  by  the  Divine. 

What  is  true  of  our  hopes  and  obligations  as  to  our  own 
individual  selves  reaches  a  higher  plane  and  a  more  nearly 
ultimate  truth  in  our  social  relations.  The  divine  nature 
of  man  expressed  in  the  Fatherhood  of  God  embraces  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man;  and  all  social  virtues  and  ideals 
point  and  aspire  to  that  brotherhood.  Different  times 
and  races  and  individuals  recognize  this  brotherhood  in 
varied  degrees ;  there  is  a  type  like  Cain,  in  the  ancient 


N 


178 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


Story,  that  would  fain  deny  his  obligation  even  to  his 
brother  according  to  the  flesh ;  at  the  other  end  of  the 
scale  are  the  men  to  whom  'nothing  is  alien  if  only  it  is 
human/  the  Howards  and  Wilberforces,  the  men  who 
have  taken  the  world  to  be  their  parish.  Between  are  all 
degrees  of  heart  and  opinion :  most  of  us  must  plead  guilty 
to  much  imperfection  of  sympathy  toward  those  of  di- 
verse color,  strange  creed,  uncouth  manners,  and  even  op- 
posite opinions  in  poHtics  or  theology.  Fortunately  a 
limited  grasp  and  sense  of  brotherhood  suffices  fairly  well 
for  the  most  of  life  in  most  cases.  Still  it  remains  that 
partly  through  want  of  heart,  —  the  inhumanity  of 
man  to  man,  —  and  partly  through  lack  of  intelligence, 
more  than  half  of  the  race  do  not  know  how  the  rest  live 
and  labor  and  endure;  through  these  defects  in  the  sense 
of  brotherhood  as  an  element  of  character,  social  welfare 
is  damaged  and  social  progress  is  impeded.  The  social 
ideal  as  a  mere  conception  or  sentiment  avails  nothing 
when  a  real  test  comes;  life  demands  sacrifice  and 
d^otion,  and  these  spring  only  from  a  profound  religious 
sense  of  unity  with  our  fellow-men. 

3.  Religious  Virtues.  All  the  virtues  are  religious 
when  they  rise  above  their  lowest  levels,  and  religion 
reenforces  and  vitalizes  them  all.  But  as  we  found 
certain  virtues  that  He  peculiarly  in  strength  of  character, 
so  we  realize  that  some  of  them  are  specially  connected 
with  religious  ideas  and  feelings.  We  might  almost  define 
religion,  in  the  sense  in  which  we  have  taken  it,  as  a 
profound  and  dominating  sense  of  two  things,  —  first,  the 


RELIGION 


179 


greatness  and  power  of  the  Universe  of  which  we  are  but 
a  tiny  part,  of  God,  Creator  and  Conservator  of  all 
things ;  and  second,  of  the  priceless  value  and  inestimable 
possibilities  of  man's  fife,  — our  own  and  that  of  our 
fellows,  near  and  far.  Is  it  not  clear  that  this  leads 
naturally  to  two  great  virtues,  reverence  and  devotion  ? 
Reverence,  because  of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  God 
and  His  image  in  humanity,  and  devotion,  in  order 
that  the  potential  may  become  the  actual,  —  in  the  words 
of  religion,  that  His  Kingdom  may  come  and  His  Will 
be  done  in  earth. 

Fear  depresses  and  lames  our  self-respect  and  con- 
fidence ;  conceit  and  vanity  blind  us  to  the  worth  and 
claims  of  others,  and  cut  us  off  from  full  sympathy 
with  them,  or  full  realization  of  the  subHmity  of  the 
Universe ;  Reverence  is  the  golden  mean  by  which  we  do 
homage  to  the  great  and  good  without  in  the  least  losing 
our  own  dignity  and  personaHty.  Thus  it  enhances 
human  life  as  a  whole,  for  each  man  gains  an  appreciation 
of  the  general  worth  and  yet  retains  his  self-respect ;  all 
minds  are  elevated  by  a  sense  of  the  subhme  in  Nature 
and  Providence,  and  are  cheered  and  strengthened  by  a 
sense  of  kinship  with  all.  Human  society  and  individual 
character  both  need  reverence  if  they  are  to  approximate 
perfection.  The  best  and  strongest  self-respect  coexists 
with  the  deepest  reverence,  paradoxical  as  the  statement 
may  sound  at  first,  for  the  capacity  to  respect  is  the  same, 
whether  the  object  of  respect  is  self  or  others. 

As  already   indicated,  we  use   the  word   devotion^  in 


i8o 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


the  sense  of  profound  and  enthusiastic  loyalty  to  a 
cause;  that  is,  in  an  active  sense  involving  conduct, 
and  not  in  the  sense  of  certain  religious  states  of  mind.  In 
this  sense  devotion  is  the  raising  of  human  activity  to  its 
highest  terms.  Oriental  religions  have  aspired  to  states 
in  which  the  consciousness  of  the  individual  is  rapt  in  move- 
less contemplation  or  lost  by  reabsorption  into  the  spirit 
of  the  Universe.  Western  reHgions  culminate  rather  in  a 
state  of  active  participation  in  the  processes  of  human 
progress  and  development.  Thus  devotion  becomes  the 
true  positive  interpretation  of  all  doctrines  of  self-abne- 
gation ;  it  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  narrower  self  in  the  larger 
social  spirit,  the  self-denial  that  makes  each  of  us  one  with 
all  and  binds  us  into  a  spiritual  unity.  For  the  individual 
soul  it  is  the  merging  or  subordination  of  the  lesser  in  the 
greater,  and  the  full  realization  of  self  by  finding  one^s 
good  in  the  good  of  all.  Devotion  then  is  reHgion  at  work, 
or  work  inspired  by  the  religious  spirit. 

Here  we  must  again  defend  ourselves  from  the  charge 
of  being  in  the  clouds,  —  of  imposing  upon  common  life 
and  ordinary  characters  a  standard  that  fits  only  saints 
or  the  few  rare  moments  of  exaltation  that  common  lives 
can  boast.  But  here,  as  in  some  other  cases,  the  truth  that 
is  most  easily  seen  and  described  in  heroic  or  sanctified 
form  is  valid  in  its  due  proportion  for  the  most  ordinary 
characters  and  the  common  tenor  of  life.  The  cup  of  cold 
water  given  to  the  thirsty  neighbor  at  the  cost  of  almost 
imperceptible  sacrifice  is  the  type  of  simple,  natural,  un- 
conscious kindnesses  that  bring  their  own  immediate 


RELIGION 


i8i 


reward  in  spirit  and  character ;  these  quiet  acts  are  the 
devotion  of  common  days.  They  too  involve  the  for- 
getting of  self  in  the  remembrance  of  others  which  is  the 
essence  of  all  the  highest  attainments  of  human  conduct. 
Devotion  to  some  end  or  ends  is  a  mark  of  the  strong 
character,  and  devotion  to  humane  and  beneficent  ends 
the  mark  of  the  good ;  and  the  most  complete  consecra- 
tion to  the  highest  ends  is  the  characteristic  of  the  greatest 
souls.  But  what  is  characteristic  of  the  greatest  is  normal 
for  all:  other  virtues  than  mercy  are  *  mightiest  in  the 
mighty,'  and  essential  for  all  who  claim  humanity.  Thus 
devotion  is  the  natural  consummation  of  the  rising  steps 
of  human  character,  crowning  all  other  elements,  and 
turning  the  streams  of  power  and  beauty  that  spring 
from  high  individual  perfection  into  the  channels  of  high- 
est value  and  joy,  both  for  the  one  soul  and  for  all  souls 
that  feel  its  influence.  It  is  the  solution  of  the  great 
Christian  paradox  that  he  who  sets  out  to  save  his  own 
life  shall  lose  it,  but  he  who  spends  his  Ufe  freely,  in  the 
cause  of  right,  shall  most  truly  find  it. 


CHAPTER  XI 


Notes  on  the  Cultivation  of  Character 

While  the  primary  purpose  of  this  book  is  a  delinea- 
tion of  the  aim  of  moral  education,  we  have  naturally 
been  led  to  many  statements  and  implications  concerning 
methods.  We  hope  at  a  future  time  to  treat  this  topic  at 
some  length ;  meanwhile  it  may  be  permitted  to  close  the 
present  discussion  with  a  few  remarks  upon  some  of  the 
most  salient  and  vital  points  in  the  question  of  the  cul- 
tivation of  character. 

I.  The  Force  of  Contagion,  The  processes  of  growth 
will  not  wait  upon  the  educator's  clock;  the  child's 
character  goes  on  developing  while  mother  and  father 
are  quite  absorbed  in  other  affairs ;  out  of  school  as  well 
as  in,  on  week  days  and  Sundays,  in  secret  ways,  unper- 
ceived  and  unperceivable,  not  only  by  parent  and  teacher, 
but  by  the  child  himself.  Even  the  crises  and  turning 
points  may  arrive  and  pass  into  permanent  elements  of 
character  before  the  best  vigilance  can  detect  them. 
While  we  sleep  the  seed  germinates  and  springs  into 
flower  and  fruit,  —  and  the  fruit  is  of  diverse  and  fate- 
ful forms. 

Moreover,  all  schemes  for  insulating  the  child  from  con- 

182 


NOTES   ON   THE   CULTIVATION   OF   CHARACTER      1 83 

tact  with  his  environment  break  down.  Man  is  a  social 
being,  and  the  young  soul  will  find  its  way  to  others,  and 
receive  from  them  stimulus,  example,  suggestion,  infor- 
mation, and  all  the  contagion  which  out  of  the  unformed 
virginity  of  child-soul  breeds  the  fixed  forms  of  disposi- 
tion, habit,  tastes,  principles,  and  ideals.  Our  children 
must  needs  grow  up  in  a  human,  social  environment ;  we 
must  pray  'not  that  they  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but 
only  that  they  be  kept  from  the  evil.'  The  great,  all-per- 
vasive, ceaseless  force  in  education  is  the  spiritual  atmos- 
phere —  first  of  the  home,  including  the  family  circle,  and 
those  who  enter  as  friends  and  acquaintances ;  later  of 
the  ever-widening  sphere  of  general  social  life,  with  certain 
peculiarly  potent  elements,  such  as  the  church,  the  school, 
and  the  street ;  and  finally  the  great  educational  mills 
of  'society,'  business,  politics. 

Doubtless  one  should  write  not  atmosphere,  but  atmos- 
pheres; one  of  the  particular  home,  another  of  the  imme- 
diate social  circle  to  which  the  family  belongs,  another 
of  the  local  community,  still  another  of  business  and 
politics,  —  and  finally  the  great  comprehensive  atmos- 
phere of  the  race  or  nation.  These  influences  differ  in- 
finitely, and  may  stand  in  bitter  conflict.  The  forces  of 
evil  symbolized  in  the  ancient  litany  of  the  Church  as  'the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil'  still  exist,  and  our  children 
still  need  to  be  dehvered  from  their  deceits.  It  is  not 
pessimism  but  plain  prudence  to  recognize  their  menace 
and  attack  them  with  every  lawful  weapon,  whether  they 
appear  as  noxious  books  and  newspapers,  or  corrupting 


i84 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


plays  and  entertainments,  or  unwholesome  forms  of  social 
life  and  custom. 

Even  because  our  children  now  in  the  shelter  of  the  home 
are  so  soon  to  be  exposed  to  the  contagion  of  the  wider 
world,  should  parents,  above  all  persons,  labor  for  general 
moral  and  social  uplift.  Concerning  proposed  changes 
in  our  affairs  we  are  familiar  enough  with  the  questions  ^Ms 
it  good  business  ?  '^  and  ''  Is  it  good  politics  ?  "  Let  us  ask 
also,  ^^What  is  the  probable  effect  of  the  movement  upon 
the  spiritual  atmosphere  that  our  youths  and  maidens 
must  breathe  as  they  step  out  from  the  doors  of  home  ? 
Will  it  tend  to  bless  or  to  curse  childhood  and  youth? 
Will  it  increase  or  decrease  the  perils  that  beset  young 
men  and  women  entering  upon  independent  careers? 
Finally,  will  it  make  better  or  worse  the  world  of  to-mor- 
row, in  which  our  beloved  children  must  live  their  lives  ?  " 
In  asking  such  questions,  and  in  making  the  answers  to 
them  a  force  in  public  opinion  and  action,  parents,  and 
especially  fathers,  ought  by  all  considerations  of  interest 
and  responsibility  to  lead  the  way. 

2.  TJie  Parents^  Power.  The  home  has  of  course  a 
peculiar  advantage  in  its  first  chance  and  its  intimate 
and  potent  contact ;  but  it  loses  its  exclusive  leasehold 
on  the  child  very  early,  and  moreover  it  is  at  the  most 
critical  period  of  moral  development  that  the  child  passes 
out  of  the  family  hfe  into  the  world.  It  was  a  Hebrew 
who  wrote,  "Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go, 
and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it";  if 
we  desire  the    proverb   to    be   true  for  us,  we   must 


NOTES    ON   THE   CULTIVATION   OF   CHAIL^CTER      1 85 


needs  emulate  the  faithful,  potent,  and  protracted  home 
education  of  the  Hebrews  —  from  which  we  are  at  present 
far  removed. 

Certainly  the  home  and  its  allies,  the  school  and  the 
church,  should  forewarn  and  forearm :  not  a  few  specious 
fallacies  hawked  by  the  weaklings  and  crooks  of  the  moral 
world  can  be  exposed  in  advance  by  the  wise  parent  or 
teacher;  and  the  child  may  well  learn  the  colors  and 
signs  of  certain  moral  poisons.  Such  instruction  is 
summed  up  in  the  Hebrew  sage's  precept,  "If  sinners 
entice  thee,  my  son,  consent  thou  not"  ;  but  the  precept  is 
of  slight  value  unless  the  lad  recognizes  the  sinners  who  are 
likely  to  entice  him,  and  the  innocent  or  alluring  guises 
under  which  they  conceal  the  evil  of  their  counsels. 

Human  nature — even  good  human  nature — is  of  almost 
infinite  variety ;  and  this  is  true  of  father  and  mother,  and 
true  of  children.  Consequently,  as  parents  constantly 
tell  us,  what  will  work  with  one  child  will  not  with  an- 
other, even  in  the  same  family.  The  actual  concrete 
problems  of  home  instruction  and  discipline  are  myriad, 
and  their  solution  must  be  left  chiefly  to  the  fathers  and 
mothers  themselves.  But  there  are  some  great  conditions 
underlying  success,  and  chiefly  two:  first,  the  parents 
themselves  must  be  worthy  of  their  trust.  It  is  a  beautiful 
and  yet  a  terrible  thing  that  to  the  dawning  moral  sense 
of  the  child,  the  father  and  mother  are  the  absolute  pat- 
tern of  perfection :  it  is  no  mere  accident  that  the  uni- 
versal language  of  religion  calls  God  the  Father:  it 
would  perhaps  be  true  to  nature  for  the  child  to  call  his 


i86 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF    CHARACTER 


father,  God.  Secondly,  the  parents  must  create  and 
preserve  mutual  love  and  intimacy  with  their  children. 
All  this  is  so  simple  and  self-evident  as  to  be  almost  ab- 
surd ;  and  yet  so  it  is,  and  it  is  the  only  way.  No  methods 
or  devices  can  ever  replace  these  two  requisites. 

The  reflex  force  of  parenthood  is  great:  no  one  can 
estimate  how  much  better  the  world  is  morally  because 
of  children.  Into  the  soul  of  the  normal  man  or  woman 
the  advent  of  a  child  is  a  call  to  the  higher  hfe.  The  very 
way  in  which  Nature  leads  the  new  being  into  the  world 
seems  designed,  when  things  are  as  they  should  be,  to 
stir  the  deepest  fountains  of  the  moral  nature.  Nor  is 
this  beneficent  influence  of  the  child  confined  to  the  par- 
ents :  the  very  sight  of  children  has  power  to  soften  and 
purify  the  countenances  of  men  and  visibly  stir  their 
better  natures.  The  teacher,  moreover,  as  a  sort  of 
secondary  parent,  is  a  great  debtor  to  this  reflex  influence 
of  education. 

Let  parents  then  —  and  most  parents  do  it  —  cherish 
and  cultivate  this  divine  impulse  toward  self-improve- 
ment :  let  them  for  their  children's  sake  diligently  prune 
away  the  minor  vices  of  irritability,  impatience,  careless 
or  profane  speech,  and  wage  a  war  without  quarter  upon 
the  greater  enemies  of  character,  —vanity  and  insincer- 
ity, indolence  and  self-indulgence,  avarice  and  overween- 
ing ambition ;  and  in  general  sound  in  their  own  souls  at 
every  thought  of  their  children  the  great  prayer-call  of 
the  ancient  Church,  "Lift  up  your  hearts."  What 
would  you  not  give,  0  father,  to   have  your  son  and 


NOTES    ON    THE    CULTIVATION    OF    CHARACTER      187 

daughter  say  of  you  in  years  far  hence,  '^My  father  was 
the  best  man  I  ever  knew  !"  They  will  say  it,  and  think 
it  too,  if  you  will  give  them  any  reasonable  ground. 

The  crown  of  parenthood  is  influence,  and  the  spring  of 
influence  is  love.  But  filial  love  is  at  first  not  a  fact,  but 
only  a  possibility.  The  love  of  the  child  for  the  parent 
is  not  born  with  the  child,  but  must  be  cultivated  by  daily 
intimacy :  the  baby  shrinks  away  from  the  father  who  has 
been  away  for  a  week,  and  clings  to  the  nurse,  imrelated 
by  blood,  who  has  tended  him  daily.  Moreover,  as  the 
years  go  on,  and  the  child  soul  grows  more  complex  and 
more  individual,  expanding  into  the  soul  of  the  youth  or 
the  maiden,  closeness  of  love  and  sympathy  is  not  so  easy 
to  gain  and  keep,  and  is  all  too  easily  lost, — sometimes, 
alas,  neither  parent  nor  child  knows  exactly  how  or  why. 
Religion  teaches  us  that  the  love  of  the  Divine  Father 
precedes  and  engenders  the  love  of  man  toward  God :  no 
less  is  it  true  that  the  love  of  the  human  parent  must 
precede  and  engender  the  love  of  the  child. 

''Who  is  your  chum  this  year,  Henry?"  was  asked  of 
a  boy  of  eighteen  in  high  school ;  he  thought  a  moment, 
and  then  answered,  "Why,  to  teU  the  truth,  my  father 
is  my  best  chum  all  the  time."  The  father  is  one  of  the 
busiest  men  in  the  city,  with  large  affairs  and  heavy  re- 
sponsibilities, but  always  with  time  to  spend  with  his  boys. 
He  never  lets  them  get  far  away  from  him ;  with  them  he 
fishes  and  hunts ;  they  accompany  him  occasionally  on 
business  trips;  he  knows  what  they  are  thinking  and 
doing,  and  spares  no  pains  in  making  himself  a  part  of 


i88 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


their  plans  and  ambitions.     Best  of  all,  he  is  a  real  flesh 
and  blood  father,  and  not  a  creature  of  the  writer's  im- 
agination.    He  will  never  have  to  say,  as  some  fathers  are 
forced  to,  when  their  boys  are  growing  into  men,  ^^I  have 
no  influence  with  my  boy ;   he  has  got  clear  beyond  my 
control.'^     Rather  will  it  be  true  that  his  sons  will  seek 
to  know  his  opinions  and  wishes,  and  find  joy  in  honoring 
them  in  their  hves  and  conduct.     For  he  has  solved  the 
problem  of  influence,  and  knows  that  the  secret  lies  in  the 
maintenance  of  intimacy ;   and  he  has  also  been  wilhng 
to  pay  the  price  of  intimacy,  in  sharing  his   time  and 
thought  with  his  children,  in  sympathizing  with  their 
interests,  in  ministering  to  their  happiness,  and  living  his 
life  to  the  highest  possible  degree  in  common  with  them. 
In  this  form  the  parental  relation  is  the  very  type  of  the 
most  powerful  form  of  moral  education,  so  far  as  moral 
education   can   come   to   one  soul   from   another.     The 
father  and  the  mother  incarnate  the  truth :  and  what  is 
true  of  them  is  true  in  its  measure  of  all  who  similarly 
influence  the  growth  of  the  child's  character.     The  Word 
must  always  be  made  Flesh  and  dwell  with  men :  ethical 
truth  must  be  put  into  daily  conduct  in  the  persons  of 
men  and  women,  and  so  find  its  way  into  the  hearts  and 
characters   of    the  young.     Only  so    can    the    light    of 
righteousness  be  passed  on  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, and  grow  in  brightness  from  age  to  age. 

3.  Physical  Health.  The  ancient  ideal  of  a  healthy 
soul  in  a  healthy  body  has  been  wonderfully  reaflirmed 
by  the  modern  doctrine  of   the   complete  interrelation 


NOTES    ON   THE   CULTIVATION   OF   CHARACTER      1 89 

and  interdependence  of  body  and  mind:  physiology 
and  psychology  have  united  in  their  emphasis  upon 
the  truth  that  even  the  most  obscure  and  delicate 
processes  in  one  side  of  the  organism  have  power  to 
affect  the  other  side.  We  must  avoid  indeed  the  false 
exaggeration  that  says  there  can  be  no  worthy  spiritual 
life  in  a  weak  or  defective  body:  many  facts  refute 
that  idea.  But  we  must  take  constant  account  of 
the  fact  that  bodily  weakness  and  disease  always 
threaten  the  life  of  the  soul ;  that  some  forms  of  defect 
choke  or  deform  the  mental  development ;  and  that  in 
general  health  and  vigor  in  body  are  the  best  possible 
foundation  for  a  genial  and  abundant  spiritual  and  in- 
tellectual life. 

Particularly  has  it  been  shown  that  many  forms  of 
bodily  disorder  in  children  check  or  even  absolutely  stop 
mental  development.     Such  especially  are  adenoids  and 
enlarged  glands,  which  diminish  the  supply  of  oxygen  by 
contracting  the  air  passages,  and  so  arrest  development 
of  all  parts  of  the  organic  Hfe.     Intellectual  development 
again  may  be  hindered  to  almost  any  degree  by  defects 
of  vision  and  hearing ;   this  of  course  is  especially  true  of 
school  work.     All  these  facts  are  becoming  more  and 
more  familiar  to  the  general  intelligent  public  every  year, 
and  great  advance  is  being  made  in  discovering  and 
eradicating  these  foes  of  normal  growth.     It  is  not  quite 
so  well  known  that  bodily  defects  and  diseased  conditions 
threaten  moral  development,   especially  in  their   effect 
upon  disposition  and  habits :  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 


I  go 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


many  a  child  is  irritable,  moody,  obstinate,  subject  to 
anger  and  other  faults  of  childhood,  as  a  result  of  indiges- 
tion, constipation,  adenoids,  or  some  other  often  easily 
remediable  physical  disorder.  The  preservation  of  bodily 
health,  then,  is  a  duty  not  only  to  body  and  intellect,  but 
also  to  moral  character,  — in  other  words,  to  full  and 
rounded  development  of  all  the  powers  and  capacities  of 
the  soul. 

A  word  must  be  said  about  some  more  direct  bodily 
dangers  to  character.  The  human  being  is  endowed  by 
nature  with  all  the  appetites  and  passions  of  the  animal 
organism.  But  in  so  far  as  he  is  only  an  animal  he  is  of 
course  not  man:  and  the  only  hope  of  true  human  Hfe 
lies  in  the  supremacy  of  the  higher  faculties  over  the  lower 
impulses.  Now  failure  to  reach  this  condition  may  be 
due  to  weakness  of  the  higher  elements,  or  to  overween- 
ing power  of  the  lower,  or,  as  is  probably  usually  the 
case,  to  both  of  these  conditions.  It  is  the  very  nature 
of  bodily  appetites  and  passions,  when  over-indulged,  to 
become  the  most  greedy  of  tyrants,  and  usurp  for  their 
own  gratification  the  best  energy  and  possibilies  of  life  : 
thus  are  produced  gourmands,  drunkards,  and  sensuaHsts 
of  all  kinds.  The  new  education  advocates  the  just  claims 
of  the  body  to  healthy  and  abundant  life  and  development, 
for  its  own  sake  and  because  it  is  the  temple  and  organ  of 
the  soul ;  for  this  very  reason  the  new  education  must  also 
be  peculiarly  vigilant  in  its  support  of  the  spirit  in  its  war 
against  the  unjust  and  pernicious  attacks  of  ^'fleshly 
lusts." 


NOTES   ON   THE   CULTIVATION  OF   CHARACTER      191 


The  most  serious  danger  of  this  kind  in  civilized  life  is 
probably  the  sexual  impulse  :  fortunately  a  large  amount 
of  earnest  and  expert  attention  is  now  being  given  to  the 
problem.  Already  abundant  sources  of  helpful  infor- 
mation and  advice  have  been  opened  up  for  all  who  will 
ask  for  them ;  and  we  may  well  hope  for  great  progress  in 
education  on  this  point.  We  content  ourselves  here  with 
urging  the  matter  upon  the  earnest  attention  of  all  parents 
and  teachers,  and  indicating  in  the  reading  list  a  number 
of  reliable  sources  of  information. 

The  only  conclusion  to  the  question  of  the  relation  of 
body  to  mind  in  moral  development  is  the  idea,  already 
often  expressed  or  implied,  of  overcoming  evil  by  good. 
Great  is  the  beneficent  influence  of  abundant  and  healthy 
bodily  life,  and  upon  this  must  attention  be  mainly  fixed, 
not  upon  defects  and  remedies.  The  whole  regimen  of 
childhood  and  youth  must  be  ordered  so  as  to  guarantee 
good  digestion,  clean  rich  blood,  firm  muscles,  and  steady 
nerves,  and  the  greatest  possible  strength  and  vigor  of 
every  fiber  of  the  physical  frame.  To  this  distinctly  phy- 
sical regimen  needs  to  be  added,  we  believe,  the  bodily 
ideal  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter,  which  shall  arouse 
in  the  child  an  intelligent  and  resolute  purpose  to  carry 
forward  the  work  begun  by  nature  and  the  care  of  others, 
and  to  cherish  and  maintain  the  power  and  beauty  of  his 
physical  being. 

4.  The  School.  Modern  society,  perhaps  especially  in 
America,  tends  to  make  unreasonable  demands  upon  the 
school :  education  so  often  means  schooling,  that  people  get 


192 


THE  .  ESSENTIALS    OF    CHARACTER 


to  think  that  education  all  goes  on  In  the  school;  the  truth 
is  that  by  far  the  biggest  and  most  vital  part  of  education 
takes  place  outside  of  the  school  and  largely  in  a  manner 
beyond  its  control.  Certainly  we  dare  not  refer  the  task 
of  character  training  entirely  or  even  mainly  to  the  school; 
there  are  several  other  powerful  agencies  in  this  field,  as 
has  already  been  suggested  earlier  in  the  chapter. 

A  striking  case  in  point  may  be  found  in  recent  educa- 
tional history  in  France :  Mn  1882  the  Government  abol- 
ished the  religious  instruction  in  the  public  schools  and  put 
in  its  place  the  existing  moral  and  civic  instruction.  Soon 
after  that  the  investigation  of  court  records  seemed  to 
show  an  increase  in  juvenile  crime,  and  naturally  many 
persons  were  inclined  to  charge  the  increase  to  the  dis- 
continuance of  the  religious  instruction.  But  the  school 
authorities,  among  other  points  in  answer,  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  in  1880  the  legal  restrictions  upon  the  sale 
of  alcoholic  liquors  were  greatly  relaxed,  and  consequently 
the  consumption  of  liquor  in  France  had  tripled,  and 
France  had  passed  from  being  seventh  in  the  Hst  of  nations 
in  amount  of  liquor  consumed  to  the  bad  eminence  of 
being  first ;  and  in  1881  was  passed  a  law  establishing  the 
''full  liberty  of  the  press,"  and  consequently  the  country 
was  flooded  with  immoral  Hterature ;  a  cabinet  minister 
declared  in  1882  that  there  were  distributed  in  Paris  at 
the  very  doors  of  the  schools  more  than  30,000  immoral 

^Report  of  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1900-1901,  p.  1129. 
We  have  quoted  in  part  almost  verbatim  from  the  American  writer  and 
the  French  authorities. 


NOTES    ON  THE   CULTF^ATION    OF   CHARACTER      1 93 


papers  daily.  Most  of  us  will  agree  with  M.  Buisson,  of 
the  Ministry  of  Education,  that  "If  we  must  find  some 
recent  laws  upon  which  to  lay  a  part  of  the  responsibility, 
it  would  suffice  to  cite  the  two  laws  which  have  given  free 
scope  and  entire  impunity,  the  one  to  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks,  the  other  to  the  cheap 
pornographic  press." 

It  is  profoundly  important  that  the  general  public 
should  realize  the  inability  of  the  school  to  cope  single- 
handed  with  the  task  of  creating  character,  or  successfuly 
to  counteract  great  forces  of  evil  in  the  larger  world  into 
which  the  child  is  to  be  plunged.  The  limitation  of  school 
education  in  moral  training  rests  mainly  upon  three  con- 
ditions: the  large  number  of  pupils  assigned  to  each 
teacher;  the  comparatively  short  hours  and  Hmited 
period  of  life  given  to  school  education;  and  the  great 
burden  of  intellectual  training  that  is  thrust  upon  the 
school  by  the  enormous  content  of  the  modern  "  curricu- 
lum," —  a  burden  that  has  engrossed  the  attention  and 
energy  of  the  school  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  both  aes- 
thetic and  moral  culture.  While  all  these  conditions  can 
be  improved  by  educational  progress,  they  are  partly  of 
the  very  nature  of  the  school,  and  will  always  forbid  our 
throwing  anything  Hke  the  entire  burden  of  moral  educa- 
tion upon  the  school  and  the  teacher. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  necessary  to  lay  great  stress  upon 
the  real  moral  duty  of  the  school,  a  duty  which  it  and  it 
alone  can  discharge ;  for  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  convic- 
tion that  the  school  falls  far  short  of  undertaking  or  even 


194 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


comprehending  this  task.  We  can  here  only  suggest 
outlines  of  this  great  subject,  and  must  ask  the  con- 
siderate judgment  of  the  reader  upon  so  condensed  an 
exposition. 

The  school  is  essentially  a  mediator  between  the  peace- 
ful seclusion  and  simple  Hfe  of  the  home  and  the  great 
wide  world,  with  its  complexity,  its  stress  and  strain,  and 
its  consequent  infinite  multiplication  of  hardships  and 
difficulties.  As  the  child  passes  from  infancy  by  gradual 
stages  up  to  youth,  his  spiritual  and  material  Hfe  both 
pass  out  from  the  home  into  the  world;  presently  he 
makes  a  final  plunge  when  he  leaves  school  and  takes  up 
his  full  adult  burden  of  vocation  and  citizenship.  In  the 
modern  world  there  are  two  chief  parties  holding  an  in- 
terest in  the  school,  the  family  and  the  State ;  both  desire 
the  greatest  good  of  the  child,  but  not  in  exactly  the  same 
manner.  Both  desire  for  him  efficiency  and  character; 
both  therefore  wish  him  to  gain  knowledge  of  the  world, 
and  to  form  attitudes  toward  it.  The  home  can  itself 
largely  do  the  work  of  training  disposition,  and  habits,  and 
the  personal  ideal ;  the  school  must  broaden  the  mind  of 
the  child  to  take  in  the  larger  relationships  of  life ;  and  it 
must  serve  the  State  by  molding  the  particular  type  of 
citizen  required  by  the  particular  form  of  pohty. 

For  these  reasons,  then,  and  some  others  that  need  not 
enter  here,  the  chief  contribution  of  the  school  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  character  is  the  broadening  of  both  intelligence  '* 
and  sympathy,  and  especially  of  the  former ;  moral  intel- 
ligence, in  a  word,  including  all  the  spheres  of  mature  life, 


NOTES    ON   THE    CULTIVATION   OF    CHARACTER      1 95 

vocation,  society,  political  activity,  is  the  peculiar  aim 
of  the  school,  which  can  be  attained  by  no  other  agency, 
at  least  so  far  as  the  great  mass  of  the  people  are  con- 
cerned. It  need  hardly  be  said  that  this  does  not  mean 
that  the  school  and  the  teacher  are  to  neglect  any  other 
way  whatsoever  in  which  they  can  stimulate  or  guide  the 
right  growth  of  the  child's  character:  the  school  must 
continue  the  work  of  the  home  in  the  nurture  of  the  dis- 
position; it  must  maintain  and  extend  the  good  habits 
that  have  been  begun  in  early  childhood,  —  obedience, 
industry,  thoughtfulness ;  it  must  minister  to  the  culti- 
vation of  the  tastes;  and  it  must  contribute  to  the  up- 
building of  the  personal  ideal,  —  particularly,  as  has  been 
pointed  out,  the  ideal  of  knowledge  and  good  thinking. 
Our  only  contention  here  is  that  the  main  task  of  school 
education  is  in  the  higher  realms  of  the  social  ideal,  the 
ethical  imagination,  and  the  formation  of  life  purposes  in 
definite  and  rational  detail. 

We  need  also  to  guard  against  the  suspicion  of  advo- 
cating moral  instruction  as  it  is  too  often  conceived 
by  those  who  discuss  it :  we  mean  the  type  parodied  by 
Rousseau  when  he  says :  — 

"Here  is  the  formula  to  which  may  be  reduced  almost 
all  the  moral  lessons  which  are  given,  or  may  be  given,  to 
children :  — 

^^  Teacher:  You  must  not  do  that.  Child:  And  why 
must  I  not  do  that  ?  T.  Because  it  is  wrong.  C.  Wrong  ! 
What  is  wrong  ?  T.  To  do  what  is  forbidden.  C.  What 
is  the  penalty  for  doing  what  is  forbidden  ?     T.  You  will 


\\t' 


U 


196 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


be  punished.  C.  I  will  do  it  in  such  a  way  that  nothing 
will  be  known  of  it.  J.  You  will  be  watched.  C.  I  will 
hide  myself.  T,  You  will  be  questioned.  C.  I  will  lie. 
T.  You  must  not  lie.  C.  Why  must  I  not  lie  ?  J.  Be- 
cause it  is  wrong  to  lie.  — And  so  on  ad  infinitum. 

''This  is  the  inevitable  circle.  .  .  ."^ 

Fortunately  such  a  travesty  exists  chiefly  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  wish,  as  did  Rousseau,  to  use  it  as  an  argument. 
In  any  case,  it  has  in  it  neither  sense  nor  reason,  and  can 
find  no  justification  in  theory  or  experience.  Moral 
education,  more  than  any  other,  must  use  methods  that 
are  in  harmony  with  the  nature  of  the  child,  —  provided 
only  we  penetrate  to  the  true  inwardness  of  that  nature 
and  refuse  to  be  misled  by  the  superficial  and  accidental. 

The  great  general  principle  of  moral  instruction  is 
simple  and  incontrovertible  :  we  must  seek  to  stimulate 
motives  rather  than  to  communicate  precepts.  There 
are  three  arguments  against  the  extensive  use  of  precept : 
first,  the  child  knows  in  the  main  without  being  told  what 
is  right  and  what  is  wrong :  secondly,  even  when  he  does 
not,  our  telling  him  will  not  often  convince  him ;  thirdly, 
the  knowledge  of  right  is  no  guarantee  of  its  perform- 
ance. Moral  instruction  should  concern  itself  mainly 
not  with  telling  what  is  right,  but  rather  with  imbuing 
the  mind  with  ideas  that  will  make  the  child  want  to  do 
the  right. 

All  this  leads  to  the  great  truth  enunciated  by  Herbart 
that  the  chief  business  of  education  is  the  ethical  revelation 

*  Emile,  p.  53  (tr.  Payne,  New  York,  1901). 


NOTES   ON   THE   CULTIVATION   OF   CHARACTER      1 97 

of  the  universe.^  We  are  to  present  mdlvAy  facts;  them 
the  child  cannot  reject  or  ignore,  even  when  he  is  stirred, 
as  he  so  often  is,  by  the  impulse  of  capricious  opposition 
or  perversity.  But  the  facts  must  be  such  and  so  pre- 
sented as  to  lead  naturally  to  principles  and  ideals,  and  so 
to  motives.  They  must  be  such  as  to  touch  the  emotions 
and  the  will,  and  must  be  presented  in  such  a  manner  and 
by  such  a  person,  as  to  do  this  part  of  their  work  effec- 
tively. Let  it  be  noted  that  this  proposition  does  not 
dream  of  any  slightest  weakening  of  the  intellectual  side 
of  education,  nor  does  it  forget  for  one  moment  the  abso- 
lute authority  and  value  of  abstract  or  intellectual  truth ; 
far  from  that,  the  ethical  revelation  of  the  world  will  evi- 
dently need  to  be  most  scrupulous  and  accurate  in  its  facts 
and  in  all  steps  of  reasoning  from  them ;  for  while  mere 
intellectual  training  tends  to  move  no  further  than  the 
inner  consciousness  of  the  individual,  moral  education 
marks  its  effects  upon  the  life  and  destiny  of  the  man  and 
the  race. 

The  great  need  of  the  school  with  respect  to  moral 
education  is  not  first  the  addition  of  separate  lessons  in  y^ 
morals  or  ethics :  it  is  rather  the  general  morahzation  of 
the  curriculum,  or  at  least  of  such  studies  as  admit  of  this. 
Two  great  branches  of  study  come  to  mind  :  history  and 
literature ;  to  them  may  at  once  be  added  two  others  that 
attach  themselves  naturally  to  history:  civics  and  eco- 
nomics.    Space  forbids  any  adequate  discussion  of  this 

^  It  seems  fair  to  translate  Herbart 's  phrase  aesthetische  Darstellung 
thus,  in  view  of  his  identifying  the  aesthetic  and  ethical  judgments. 


1 98 


THE    ESSENTIALS    OF    CHARACTER 


great  problem  here,  and  we  must  be  content  with  a  few 
brief  assertions  which  in  their  isolation  sound  dogmatic, 
though  they  are  not  so  intended.^  History  is  devitalized 
by  insistence  upon  *' covering  the  ground"  in  the  sense  of 
appropriating  the  facts  contained  in  a  certain  book  or  set 
of  books  treating  a  certain  period.  The  result  is  first  that 
most  of  the  facts,  having  no  hold  upon  the  Hfe  or  heart  of 
the  pupil,  are  lost  in  obhvion  almost  as  soon  as  the  final 
examination  is  over;  and  secondly,  that  those  profound 
and  indispensable  ideas  and  images  that  should  be  im- 
pressed indelibly  upon  the  mind,  be  literally  learned  hy 
heart,  and  so  permanently  influence  character,  never  get 
root  at  all.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  great  majority  of  Amer- 
ican college  students  could  not  cite  one  smgle  idea  from 
Washington's  Farewell  Address ;  half  of  them  do  not  posi- 
tively know  whether  or  no  any  such  address  ever  occurred. 
When  we  come  to  literature  we  find  it  largely  dehuman- 
ized in  the  interests  of  Hterary  history  and  philology; 
"Macbeth"  and  the  "Merchant  of  Venice,"  "Cicero 
against  Catiline,"  Schiller's  "WilHam  Tell,"  too  often 
lose  their  real  character  as  a  portrayal  and  judgment  of 
life,  and  become  mere  frameworks  for  remote  facts  and 
irrelevant  etymology  and  syntax. 

The  question  of  separate  ethical  or  moral  lessons  ought 
also  to  be  dealt  with  seriously ;  so  far  we  have  only  played 
at  it  here  and  there,  and  usually  ended  by  declaring,  first, 

*See  article  by  the  writer,  "An  Educational  Emergency,"  Atlantic 
Monthly,  July,  1910.  Also,  "The  High  School's  Cure  of  Souls,"  Edu- 
cational Review,  April,  1908. 


NOTES   ON  THE   CULTIVATION   OF   CHARACTER      1 99 

that  it  is  not  needed,  and  second,  that  no  one  could  teach 
it  successfully  if  it  were.  Of  the  need  of  all  agencies  that 
can  contribute  to  the  formation  of  character,  no  one  who 
looks  abroad  into  the  world  of  society,  business,  and  pol- 
itics, can  be  in  doubt.  The  question  of  possibility  is  not 
one  for  argument  so  much  as  for  intelHgent  and  resolute 
experiment  and  reflection  upon  the  results  of  the  experi- 
ence. Schools  both  past  and  present  in  other  lands  fur- 
nish rich  material  for  study,  in  both  methods  and  results. 

Finally,  the  internal  social  life  of  the  school  is  just 
beginning  to  be  properly  recognized  as  an  educative 
agency  of  the  first  rank.  Here  we  have  much  yet  to  learn : 
the  school  is  to  be  a  microcosm,  a  little  world  in  which 
the  children  can  learn  how  to  live  later  in  the  big  world. 
Two  great  principles  must  be  preserved:  first,  the  Hfe 
must  be  real  and  sincere ;  to  the  child  not  a  preparation  but 
life  in  earnest;  then  the  school  life  must  ring  true  to  the 
virtues  and  ideals  of  all  life;  probably  we  shall  have  to 
stop  punishing  Harry  for  helping  Tom  with  his  lesson,  if 
we  expect  school  life  to  do  its  part  toward  making  the 
world  less  selfish.  At  any  rate,  few  symptoms  in  educa- 
tion are  more  hopeful  than  the  pervasive  and  vital  interest 
in  the  social  side  of  school  training. 

5.  Self-education.  The  deepest  of  all  educational 
truths  is  that  we  cannot  really  be  taught,  but  must 
learn:  unless  the  mind  of  the  pupil  works  there  is  no 
instruction,  and  unless  the  .will  of  the  pupil  works  there 
is  no  training.  In  the  early  years  the  teacher  —  official 
or  unofficial  —  can  and  must  do  much  for  the  learner; 


200 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


but  as  the  years  go  on  he  can  do  less  and  less,  and  the 
growing  soul  is  more  and  more  committed  to  its  own 
guard  and  culture.  Moreover,  man  differs  from  all  other 
animals  in  the  long  duration  of  his  age  of  development : 
at  an  age  when  most  creatures  of  his  size  are  full 
grown  he  is  still  an  almost  helpless  infant,  and  after 
they  begin  to  be  aged  he  is  still  putting  forth  the  bud 
of  new  powers  and  capacities.  Even  his  body  requires 
a  quarter  of  a  century  to  reach  perfection,  and  no  one  has 
yet  set  any  hmit  in  years  to  the  expansion  and  ripen- 
ing of  his  soul. 

For  these  two  reasons  the  greatest  education  must  al- 
ways needs  be  self-education ;  even  the  child  must  take 
himself  in  hand,  or  little  will  be  accomplished ;  and  after 
parents  and  teachers  have  done  their  best,  the  real  task 
and  the  choicest  results  lie  before  the  maturing  youth. 
Instruction  and  training  merely  make  beginnings,  start 
processes,  stimulate  motives,  and  provide  the  simplest 
tools,  the  finest  service  of  the  educator  lies  in  making  him- 
self no  longer  needed,  by  setting  in  motion  the  pupil's  own 
self -educative  will,  and  transferring  to  him  the  responsi- 
biUty  and  the  control  of  his  own  further  cultivation. 

It  is  sad  to  think  how  few  people  ever  do  take  them- 
selves seriously  in  hand  to  make  the  best,  as  Jean  Paul 
has  it,  of  the  stuff  that  is  in  them.  It  is  striking,  on  the 
other  hand,  how  largely  great  men  have  made  themselves 
and  how  Httle  schools  and  other  influences  from  without 
seem  to  have  affected  their  development :  the  pages  of 
biography  are  full  of  the  Stephensons  who  did  not  learn 


NOTES    ON   THE   CULTIVATION   OF   CHARACTER      201 


to  read  until  they  were  grown  men,  of  the  Lincolns  whose 
academy  was  the  field  or  the  village  store,  and  of  the  Scotts 
who  were  the  ''great  blockheads"  of  the  schools  that  they 
attended.  Demosthenes  striding  up  and  down  the  shore, 
with  pebbles  in  his  mouth,  relentlessly  drilling  his  stam- 
mering tongue  to  out-talk  the  waves  themselves,  is  a 
type  of  the  sort  of  education  that  removes  mountains  and 
turns  obstacles  into  stepping-stones.  So  is  Disraeli, 
laughed  down  in  his  maiden  speech,  vowing  that  the  im- 
ruly  House  should  yet  listen  to  him  and  mark  his  words 

well. 

Self-education,  then,  is  the  consummation  and  fulfill- 
ment of  all  other  training ;  it  is  the  only  guarantee  of  any 
large  realization  of  the  hidden  possibihties  of  the  young 
soul.  It  is  the  clear  duty  of  the  educator  to  give  delib- 
erate and  earnest  attention  to  arousing  and  invigorating  the 
motives  of  self -culture ;  in  particular  should  instruction 
seek  most  of  all  to  conserve  native  interest  and  intellectual 
enthusiasm ;  it  is  far  more  essential  that  the  child  should 
continue  to  'want  to  know'  about  things,  than  that  he 
should  know  about  any  particular  things.  And  discipline 
should  seek  to  arouse  motives  and  ideals  and  so  constitute 
an  inner  moral  authority  that  will  labor  for  growth  and 
improvement  far  more  effectively  and  permanently  than 
any  influences  from  without. 

The  greatest  stimulus  and  guidance  of  self-culture  are  to 
be  found  in  the  personal  and  social  ideals  discussed  in 
previous  chapters.  The  educator  can  be  said  to  have 
done  his  part  of  the  work  well  when  he  has  brought  the 


202 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF    CHARACTER 


youth  to  set  out  into  life  with  a  worthy  image  of  what  he 
desires  to  be,  both  in  himself  and  in  his  relations  to  his 
fellow  men,  and  with  the  enthusiasm  and  resolution 
needed  to  keep  him  at  work  turning  the  ideal  into  the  real, 
developing  character  out  of  the  endowments  of  nature 
through  the  activities  of  Hfe,  and  again  investing  that 
character  in  good  works,  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  bless- 
ing of  himself  and  of  mankind. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Suggested  Readings 

The  following  list  of  references  makes  no  pretension  to  com- 
pleteness, but  is  simply  meant  to  help  the  reader  who  wishes  to 
study  further  the  general  subject  or  any  particular  topic.  The 
general  list  is  divided  into  four  groups,  the  first  including  works 
that  have  powerfully  influenced  the  course  of  educational  thought 
and  practice,  and  hence  may  be  called  prophetic ;  the  second  class 
deals  with  the  psychology  and  physiology  of  the  child ;  the  third 
includes  practical  works  for  both  teacher  and  parent;  and  the 
fourth  group  contains  all  that  do  not  fit  into  any  of  the  others.  In 
all  the  lists,  both  the  four  groups  of  the  general  fist,  and  the  fists 
for  the  separate  chapters,  we  have  arranged  the  references  in  what 
we  consider  the  order  of  their  fitness  and  value  to  the  reader  of  this 
book. 

For  Reading  Circles 

For  Teachers'  or  other  Reading  Circles,  or  for  any  persons  who 
wish  to  make  a  careful  study  based  upon  the  book,  the  following 
books  are  recommended  as  collateral  reading:  Harrison,  The 
Study  of  Child  Nature  ;  Tanner,  The  Child ;  McCunn,  The 
Making  of  Character;  Froebel,  Education  of  Man;  James, 
Talks  to  Teachers. 


GENERAL  LIST 
/.  Educational  Prophecy 

Froebel  :  Education  of  Man.     (Appleton.) 
Rousseau:     Emile.     (Appleton.)     One  dare   not   mention   this 
book  without  cautioning  the  reader  against  its  excesses  and 

203 


204 


THE   ESSENTIALS    OF   CHARACTER 


paradoxes ;  and  yet  whosoever  would  be  intelligent  on  modern 

education  must  know  the  Emile. 
Emerson:    Education.    References  are  made  to  the  Riverside 

Educational   Monograph  edition,   containing  several   essays 

bearing  on  education.     (Houghton  Mifflin  Co.) 
Plato  :  The  Republic.     (Golden  Treasury  edition.)    (Macmillan.) 

Book  II,  last  third  (376B  to  end),  Book  III,  Book  VII. 

//.  The  Nature  0}  the  Child 

Harrison  :  The  Study  of  Child-Nature.     (Chicago  Kindergarten 

Association.) 
Tanner:    The  Child.    (Rand,  McNally.)    A  good  elementary 

book  for  the  general  reader. 
Hall:    Youth.     (Appleton.)    A  small  volume  of  excerpts  from 

his  massive  work  on   Adolescence.     Indispensable  for   the 

student.    To  be  read  with  some  caution. 
KiRKPATRiCK :  The  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study.     (Macmillan.) 

Specially  strong  on  native  tendencies. 
Warner:   The  Study  of  Children.     (Macmillan.)     Largely  from 

the  standpoint  of  the  physician. 
RowE :   The  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child.     (Macmillan.) 
Tyler  :    Growth  and  Education.     (Houghton  Mifflin  Co.)    A  bio- 
logical view,  with  excellent  practical  deductions. 
Perez:    The  First  Three  Years  of  Childhood.     (Chicago,  1885.) 

One  of  the  earUest  books  on  the  subject,  but  of  enduring  value. 
Sully:     Children's   Ways.     (Appleton.)    A   series   of   informal 

discussions,  full  of  charm  and  suggestion. 

///.  Practical  Treatises 

Spencer:  Education.    Ch^'pi^x  on  Moral  Education.    (Appleton.) 
MacCunn:  The  Making  of  Character.     (Macmillan.) 
Schofield:  The  Springs  of  Character.     (New  York.) 
Cabot:  Ethics  for  Children.     (Houghton  Mifflin  Co.)     A  most 
useful  handbook  for  the  teacher  in  the  elementary  school. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


205 


Moral  Education  in  Public  Schools.  The  California  Prize  Essays. 
(Ginn.) 

Hyde  :  Practical  Ethics.     (Holt.) 

Fenelon  :  The  Education  of  Girls.  (Ginn.)  An  excellent  little 
book,  interesting  and  instructive,  far  too  Uttle  known  at  the 
present  time. 

Milton:  Tractate  on  Education.  (Macmillan.)  The  finest  es- 
sence of  EngHsh  humanistic  education  compressed  into  a  few 
pages  by  the  great  poet,  who  was,  as  not  every  one  knows, 
also  a  schoolmaster. 

Coe  :   Education  in  Morals  and  Religion.     (Chicago.) 

Griggs:   Moral  Education.    (New  York,  1905.) 


IV.  Miscellaneous 

Davids:  The  Notebook  of  an  Adopted  Mother.  (Button.) 
Above  all  price  for  those  who  deal  with  small  children.  Full 
of  wisdom,  humor,  and  pathos. 

James:  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology  and  to  Students  on 
Some  of  Life's  Ideals.     (Holt.) 

Everett  :  Ethics  for  Young  People.     (Ginn.) 

Pubhcations  of  the  Religious  Education  Association  (Chicago), 
especially  the  yearbook  for  1908,  on  Education  and  the 
National  Character. 

The  Gulick  Hygiene  Series  (Ginn),  especially  Book  V,  Control  of 
Body  and  Mind. 

Bibliographies:  Monroe:  Bibliography  of  Education  (Apple- 
ton)  ;  King  :  Psychology  of  Child  Development  (University  of 
Chicago  Press),  Bibliography  of  children's  interests,  pp.  249-255; 
Tanner:  The  Child,  Reading  lists  under  each  chapter; 
Rowe  :  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child,  pp.  188-200. 
Note  :  Books  mentioned  in  the  general  Hst  will  be  referred  to  as 

briefly  as  possible  in  the  special  hsts,  usually  by  the  author's  name 

alone. 


2o6 


THE    ESSENTIALS    OF    CHARACTER 


SPECIAL  LISTS 


Introdiiciion 

Froebel,  Part  I,  Groundwork  of  the  Whole. 
Rousseau,  Preface  and  Book  I. 

James,  pp.  3^-^3y  9i-99- 
ScHOFiELD,  Chap.  I. 

FiSKE :  Meaning  of  Infancy    (Houghton  Miffin  Co.) 
Davidson  :  Education  of  the  Greek  People.  (Appleton.)  Chap.  I, 
Nature  and  Education. 

Chapter  I.    Native  Tendencies 

Tanner,  Chaps.  XII,  XIII,  XIV,  XV,  XIX. 

MacCunn,  Part  I,  Chaps.  I,  II,  IV. 

Froebel,  Parts  I,  II,  III. 

Sully,  VII,  VIII  (Fear),  IV  (Curiosity). 

Keatinge:  Suggestion  in  Education.  (London,  1907.)  Chaps. 
VII,  VIII,  IX. 

ScHOFiELD,  Chap.  V,  Character  and  Heredity. 

Davids,  Notebook,  etc.,  pp.  164-166;  212-215;  234-238;  240- 
243;  246-248;  252-259. 

James:  Talks  to  Teachers,  V,  VI,  VII,  X. 

Russell  :  Child  Observations  —  Imitation.  (Heath.)  A  col- 
lection of  over  1 200  cases  of  imitation  in  children,  from  infancy 
up  to  sixteen  years  of  age. 

Dewey  :  How  We  Think.     Chap.  III. 

Chapter  II.    Treatment  of  Impulses 

James:  Talks,  etc.,  Ill,  IV,  VIII,  XV. 

MacCunn,  Part  I,  Chap.  V,  Development  and  Repression. 

Froebel,  Part  III,  The  Boyhood  of  Man. 

Rousseau,  Books  I,  II. 


bibliography  207 

Davidson,  Education  of  the  Greek  People,  Chap.  L 
Eaierson,  pp.  9-34. 

Chapter  HI.    Disposition 

MacCunn,  Part  I,  Chap.  IH. 
Everett,  Chaps.  X,  XVI,  XXX. 

Chapter  IV.    Habits 

James:  Talks,  Chap.  VEIL    See  also  chapter  on  Habit  in  James* 

Psychology,  Briefer  Course.     (Holt.) 
MacCunn,  Chap.  VI. 
SCHOFIELD,  Chap.  VI. 
Everett,  Chap.  XLIII. 
Oppenheim  :  Mental  Growth  and  Control.     (Macmillan.)    Chap. 

VII. 
Dewey  :  How  We  Think.     Chap.  HI. 
Sheldon  :  A  Study  of  Habits.     (Chicago,  1903.) 

Chapter  V.    Tastes  and  Appreoation 

Tanner,  XVII,  XVIH. 

Perez,  Chap.  XII. 

Sully,  Chap.  XI. 

Scott  :  Social  Education.     (Ginn.)     Chap.  XI. 

Tracy  :  Psychology  of  Childhood.     (Heath.)     Chaps.  HI,  VI. 

Munsterberg  :  Principles  of  Art  Education. 

Chapter  VI.    The  Personal  Ideal 

Hall,  Chap.  IX. 

MacCunn,  Part  III,  Chap.  HI. 

Rousseau,  Emile,  pp.  123-128;  188-191 ;   217-228;  244-248. 

Perez,  Chap.  XIII. 

Everett,  Chaps.  XX,  XXI. 

The  Golden  Book  of  Marcus  Aurelius  (Temple  Classics),  Book  I. 

Smiles:    Self-Help,  Chap.  XIH. 


'I 


208 


THE   ESSENTIALS   OF   CHARACTER 


ScHOFiELD,  Chap.  XII. 
Tanner,  Chap.  X. 

Note  :  The  whole  thought  and  life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
was  imbued  with  this  ideal  of  personality,  and  the  humanists  of 
the  Renaissance  revived  the  conception ;  hence  both  classic  and 
humanistic  literature  are  rich  in  material  on  the  personal  ideal. 

Chapter  VII.    Conscience 

Sully,  Chaps.  IX,  X. 

Perez,  Chap.  XIII. 

Hall,  Chap.  XII,  pp.  356-361. 

Rousseau,  pp.  208-212. 

Adler  :  Moral  Instruction  of  Children.     (Appleton.)     Chaps. 

XI-XVII. 
Seelye  :  Duty.     (Ginn.) 

Chapter  VIII.    The  Socul  Ideal 

MacCunn,  Part  II,  Chaps.  IV,  VI,  VII,  IX. 

Hall,  Chap.  IX,  The  Growth  of  Social  Ideals. 

James  :  Talks,  etc.    "On  a  Certain  Blindness  in  Human  Beings," 

pp.  229-264. 
Jane   Addams:    Democracy  and   Social  Ethics.    (Macmillan.) 

Chap.  VI. 
Scott  :  Social  Education.     (Ginn.) 

Davidson  :  Education  of  the  Wage-Earner.     (Ginn.)     Chap.  II. 
Ross  :  Sin  and  Society. 
Forbush  :  The  Boy  Problem :  a  Study  in  Social  Pedagogy.     (The 

Pilgrim  Press.) 

Chapter  IX.    Strength  of  Character 

MacCunn,  Part  I,  Chaps.  H,  V;   Part  H,  Chap.  VIII;    Part  IV, 
Chap.  II. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  209 

Everett,  Chaps.  XI,  XII,  XIII,  XIV,  XXn,  XXm. 

Emerson's  Essays,  Self-Reliance. 

Chapter  X.    Religion 

Coe:   Education  in  Religion  and  Morals.     (Chicago,    1904.) 
Sully,  Chap.  VI. 

Davids,  Notebook,  etc.    Pp.  86-90;   106-108;   190;   224-225. 
Tanner,  Chap.  IX. 
MacCunn,  Part  II,  Chap.  VII. 
Schofield,  Chap.  XIII. 

Matthew  Arnold  :  God  and  the  Bible.    (Macmillan.)   Chap.  III. 
Tolstoi:  Twenty- three  Tales  (Oxford  University  Press),  espe- 
cially Numbers  4,  6,  7. 

Chapter  XT.    Cultivation  of  Character 

Griggs,  Chap.  XII.    (Moral  influence  of  the  social  atmosphere.) 
Jane  Addams  :   The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City  Streets.    (Mac- 

•  mUlan.) 
Jane  Addams:    Democracy  and  Social  Ethics.      (Macmillan.) 

Chaps.  Ill,  VI. 
PRITCHETT :   The  Ethical  Education  of  Public  Opinion.    In  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Religious  Education  Association,  1905,  pp. 

47-51. 
Dewey  :  The  School  and  Society.     (University  of  Chicago  Press.) 

Briggs:   School,  College  and  Character.     (Boston,  1902.) 

Spalding:    Education  and   the  Higher  Life.     (Chicago,  1897.) 

Chap.  V. 


INDEX 


Acquisitiveness,  32. 

Activity,  40  £. ;  75. 

Adenoids,  189. 

Adolescence,  loi ;  132;  138;  148. 

Esthetic  education,  16;  17  f. ;  102  f. 
See  also  Tastes. 

Affection,  as  native  tendency,  21. 

Aim  of  education,  4;  132. 

Altruism,  22;    158. 

Altruistic  nature  of  education,  141. 

Amusements,  value  of  simple,  52. 

Ancestor  worship,  138. 

Appetite,  tyranny  of,  190. 

Appreciation  of  beauty,  102  f. 

Approbation,  love  of,  31. 

Art,  appreciation  of,  106. 

Athenian  oath  of  initiation  into  citizen- 
ship, 148. 

Athletic  habit,  98 ;  99. 

Athletics,  in  school,  loi ;    116. 

Authority,  71. 

Avocation,  160. 

Beauty,  love  of,  17 ;  102  f. 

Blame,  31. 

Bodily  activity,  6  ;  g8. 

Bodily  health,  188. 

Bodily  ideal,  115  f. 

Browning,  on  bodily  vigor,  117. 

"Breaking  the  will,"  20. 

Business,  intelligence  concerning,  143, 

144- 

Candy,  taste  for,  16. 

Character,  analysis  of,  42 ;  cultivation 
of.  Chap.  XI ;  essential  elements  of, 
2 ;   genesis  of,  i ;   strength  of,  263. 

Cheerfulness,  45. 

Child  Study,  6. 

Christianity,  171. 

Citizenship,  requirement  for,  147; 
initiation  into,  148. 


City  life  and  education,  79. 

Civics,  ethical  value  of,  197 ;  study  of, 
146;  147. 

Civilization,  tendency  to  bodily  de- 
generacy under,  98. 

Cleanness  of  body,  116. 

Coddling,  24. 

Comenius,  17. 

Conscience,  Chap.  VII ;  also  37. 

Conservation  of  native  endowment, 
30;  so;  56;  81;  153!. 

Considerateness,  84. 

Constructive  impulse,  12. 

Contagion,  education  through,  15 ;  182. 

Courage,  163. 

Courtesy,  151. 

Cruelty  of  children,  19. 

Crusoe,  boy's  idea  of,  134. 

Culture,  aesthetic,  Chap.  V. 

Curiosity,  9;  11;  basis  of  intellect,  81. 

Debt  of  youth,  137. 

Destructive  impulse,  12. 

Development,  according  to  fixed  laws,  i. 

Devotion,  179. 

Diet,  16. 

Discipline,  14;   37;   51;   66;  67;   68; 

87;  156. 
Disease,  influence  of,  189. 
Disobedience,  13;  67. 
Disposition,    43;     Chap.    Ill;     and 

habit,  58. 
Dolls,  child's  love  for,  21. 
Drawing,  free-hand,  109. 
Duty,  124;   131.    See  Conscience, 

Economic  intelligence,  143. 
Economics,  ethical  value  of,  197. 
Eflficiency,  pride  in,  121. 
Emerson,  42 ;  162. 
Emotion,  59. 
Endurance,  78;  165. 


211 


212 


mDEX 


Evil,  overcome  through  good,  22 ;  33 ; 
36;  92;   94;   no;   116. 

Facts,  ethical  use  of,  197. 

Fastidiousness,  113. 

Fear,  as  native  tendency,  25;  relation 
to  obedience,  72 ;  as  enemy  of  truth- 
fulness, 87. 

Food,  taste  for  wholesome,  16 ;  07- 

Foresight,  80. 

France,  morality  and  the  school  in,  192 ; 
public  schools  of,  173. 

Franchise,  quaUfication  for,  147. 

Froebel,  124. 

Fur,  fear  of,  26. 

"Gang"  impulse,  32. 

Gladstone,  100;  172. 

God,  thought  of,  174' 

Good  humor,  47  ;  53- 

Good,  overcome  evil  through,  22;  33; 
36;  92;  94;  no;  116. 

Greek  ideal  of  harmonious  develop- 
ment, 156. 

"Growing-up"  impulse,  27,'  educa- 
tional value  of,  29. 

Guilt,  feeling  of,  128. 

Habit.  30;    and  disposition,  58;    for- 
mation of,  61 . 
Habits,  Chap.  IV ;  bad  habits,  qi. 
Happiness,  as  native  tendency,  23. 
Harmonious  development,  37;    156. 
Harmony  and  coordination  of  powers, 

155- 

Health  and  precocity,  83. 

Hebrews,  religion  and  morality  in  the- 
ology of,  175. 

Herbart's  doctrine  of  ethical  presenta- 
tion, 197. 

Heroes,  national,  149. 

Higher  education,  privilege  and  respon- 
sibility of,  140. 

Higher  powers,  control  by,  is?- 

History,  ethical  value  of,  197. 

Home,  first  educative  agency,  184. 

Home  training,  69 ;  79;  185  f. 

Honesty,  167. 

Honor,  ideal  of,  trS;  schoolboy  honor, 
X19;  needs  enlightenment,  120. 


Hope,  45 ;  49- 

Human  ideals,  harmony  with,  160. 

Imagination,  ethical,  38 ;  159;  in  chil- 
dren, as  occasion  of  untruths,  87. 

Imitation,  14;  28. 

Impulses,  see  in  general  Native  ten- 
dencies,' Chap.  I;  conservation  of, 
30 ;  mediation  of,  38. 

Individual  variation,  2. 

Indulgence,  24;  34;  52;  57' 

Industry,  8;  61 ;  74  i. 

Influence,  of  parents,  187. 

Instruction,  moral,  195 ;  198. 

Integrity,  163;  165. 

Intellectual  ideal,  the,  117  f. 

Jesus,  65 ;  88 ;  141 ;  158 1  161 ;  171. 
Joy,  23  f . ;  45 ;  SO. 
Justice,  167. 

Keats,  on  beauty,  103. 
Kindness,  45 ;  54. 

Law,  moral,  174;  natural,  174. 

Leisure,  employment  of,  160. 

Lies,  87  f. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  54;  117;  iS©; 
158;  161;  170;  171. 

Literature,  ethical  value  of,  197. 

Love,  as  native  tendency,  21;  expan- 
sion of,  150;  of  humankind,  148; 
as  culmination  of  character,  158. 

Manners,  151. 

Maturing  impulse,  27  f. 

Mediation  of  impulse,  38. 

Methods  of  moral  training.  Chap.  XI. 

Mischief,  12. 

Modesty,  123. 

Money,  intelligence  concerning,   138; 

143. 
Moral  instruction,  19s  ;  198. 
Moral  intelligence,  1 28 ;  194. 
Moral  training,  Chap.  XL 
Morality  and  religion,  172. 
Mouth,  impulse  to  put  things  into,  9. 
Music,  107. 

Native    tendencies,   Chap.    I;    treat- 
ment of.  Chap.  II. 


INDEX 


213 


Nature,  love  of,  103. 
New  education,  5. 
Novels,  59- 

Obedience,  13 ;  14;  61;  63  f. 
Old  education,  S- 
Organic  character  of  child-hfe,  5- 
"Ought"  sense  of,  see  Conscience. 
Outdoor  life,  taste  for,  100. 


Parent,  power  of,  185  f.;  social  respon- 
sibility of,  184. 
Parenthood,  education  for,  22;   reflex 

influence  of,  186. 
Parents,  suggestions  to,  3  ;  14  ;  18 ;  20 ; 

29;3o;3i;38;4o;53;56;67;69; 

71;  8i;  87,  89;  90;  104;  106;  no; 

120;  129;  154;  160;  168. 
Parks  and  playgrounds,  105. 
Passions,  tyranny  of,  190. 
Patience,  163 ;  165. 
Perseverance,  78 ;  163  ;  165. 
Personal  ideal.  Chap.  VI. 
Physical  perfection,  ideal  of,  116. 
Pictures,  use  in  education,  106. 
Plato,  5.  164 ;  168. 
Play,  8 ;  76 ;  99- 
Playgrounds  and  parks,  105. 
PoUtical  intelligence,  146. 
Positive  vs.  negative,  36 ;  68 ;  92 ;  154- 
Praise,  love  of,  31- 
Precept,  weakness  of,  196. 
Precocity,  82. 

Priggishness,  83.  ^ 

Processes,  educative,  39. 

Prophylaxis,  against  bad  habits,  93- 

Puberty,  32. 

Pugnacity,  19. 

Punishment,  38. 

"  Puppy-love,"  33-  . 

Purposes,  as  elements  in  strength  ot 
character,  159- 


Reliability,  130. 

Religion,  Chap.  X. 

Religious  conception  of  man,  175- 

Religious  instruction  in  schools,  172; 

17^. 

Repression  in  education,  35 ;  $6;  iS3 ; 

156. 
Responsibility,  79.  130. 
Restlessness  of  child,  7 ;  102. 
Reverence,  i79- 
Richter,  Jean  Paul,  85 ;  87. 
"Romancing"  in  children,  87. 
Rousseau,  2  ;  36 ;  52 ;  15s ;  i9S- 


Questions,  children^  11 ;  81. 


Scener>',  love  of,  104. 

School,  69;    79;   83;   89;   loi;   135; 

146;  191  ^• 
Self-abnegation,  180. 

Self-assertion,  18  f.,  37  ;  7i« 
Self-command,  168. 
Self-control,  158 ;  163 ;  168. 
Self -education,  30 ;  39  ;  lU ;  I99  i- 
"Self -reporting"  in  school,  89. 
Self-respect,  20;  114  f- 
Senses,  aided  by  movement,  8 ;  develop- 
ment of,  9- 
Sense-hunger,  9- 
Service,  ideal  of,  138- 
Sex  nature  and  training,  32 ;  loi ;  IQI- 
Sight,  development  of,  10. 
Singing,  109. 
Smiles,  Samuel,  on  bodily  degeneracy, 

due  to  civilized  life,  98. 
Social  contagion,  182. 
Social  ideal,  the.  Chap.  VIII. 
Social  impulse,  23  ;  132. 
Social  intcUigcnce  and  sympathy,  i43- 
Social  life  of  school,  199. 
Social  nature  of  man,  55  ;  i33  f- 
Social  relations,  124;  i34« 
Social  sympathy,  i43- 
Socrates,  150;  158;  161. 
State  and  school,  i94- 
Strength  of  character.  Chap.  IX .  ^ 

SuggesUbUity,  13  f-;  39;  57;  64;  7»» 
86. 


Reading,  love  for,  109  f. 
Reason,  development  of,  82;   suprem- 
acy of,  158. 


"Tabula  rasa"  fallacy,  6. 
Tastes,  16,  Chap.  V. 
1  Teachers,  suggestions  for ;  14 ;  29 ;  3© , 


214 


INDEX 


31;  34;  3s;  4or67;  69;  71;  81; 
87;  89;  104;  106;  120;  129;  154; 

160. 
Temperance,  see  Self-conlrol. 
Tendencies,  native.  Chap.  I. 
Things,  ideas  of ,  11. 
Thoughtfubiess,  61 ;  80  f. 
Thoughtlessness,  85. 
Touch,  development  of,  10. 
Toys,  76. 
Treatment  of  native  tendencies.  Chap. 

II. 
Truthfukiess,  61 ;  85  £. ;  163 ;  166. 


Vanity,  114. 

Vices,  petty,  29. 

Vigor,  in  native  tendencies,  18. 

Virtues,  reUgious,  178. 

Vocation,  choice  of,  iii ;  159. 

Wholesome  tastes,  96. 

Wilfulness,  18. 

Will,  development  of,  64 ;  elements  of, 

154. 
Wordsworth,  124. 

I  Workman,  pride  of,  121  f. 


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